


Earth 40

by YsabelGranger



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-28
Updated: 2017-04-28
Packaged: 2018-09-20 11:15:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 53,364
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9488642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YsabelGranger/pseuds/YsabelGranger
Summary: When Kara crossed the portal from Earth 1, an enormous billboard with a picture of her next to Lena Luthor welcomed her. A picture she didn’t remember to have been taken, with a text that made her feel nervous: Welcome to National City, the safest city in the country, protected by Supergirl’s powers and L Corp technology.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone, I’m from Spain, and I’ve asked people to translate this chapter. I need someone who is english native speaker and who has free time to be my Beta (even for translations if you speak English and Spanish). Anyone there?  
> Thanks a lot for reading and I hope you like my story.

Kara was really eager to go back home, to see Alex and the others and to have some rest. She deserved it after her fight with the Dominators. Even though she would miss all the gang, especially Barry. When she crossed the portal, she emerged in the suburbs of National City. She was smiling until her eyes met an enormous billboard in which she appeared dressed as Supergirl along with Lena Luthor, who was clinging on to her arm, protecting herself behind her, posing like in posters for TV shows. Kara didn’t remember having done this picture with Lena, and the text that went with it didn’t make it clearer.

“Welcome to National City, the safest city in the country, protected by the power of Supergirl and the L Corp technology.3

She looked around her and she felt anxious. Either her memory was betraying her or there were new buildings in the city. But she hadn’t been gone that long, a month tops according to Barry and Cisco, they wouldn’t have had time to build them. What the hell was going on? She needed to see Alex and talk to her.

After knocking twice, an Asian woman opened the door. Kara frowned and took a step back to see if it was the right flat. She looked again at the woman, disconcerted. 

“Excuse me, does Alex Danvers live here?”  
“I’m sorry, the last owner left a few months ago”. The woman replied.  
“Oh… And do you know where she lives now?”  
“No, I don’t know anything.” The women looked at her suspiciously. It was clear that she wanted to close the door and Kara didn’t want to bother her any longer.  
“Thank you anyway.”

Her anxiety was increasing by the minute. The city was different, her sister Alex living who knows where… What more had changed during her absence? Maybe years had gone by? She started to worry.

Her second option was to go to the DEO, maybe Alex was there, she and J’onn had a lot to explain to her. But the building that contained the DEO wasn’t where it had been anymore. In its place, there was a huge skyscraper occupied with banks and offices.

“This can’t be real I must be dreaming.” She mumbled

She then thought of Lena Luthor and prayed deep down that the L Corp was still where she remembered. She could go flying, like Supergirl, but she preferred to keep looking like Kara Danvers, to keep a low profile, at least until she knew what those posters with the CEO of L Corp were about. The gigantic L surmounted the higher floors of the imposing building. Kara sighed with relief, at least one thing was still in its place.

“Stay calm, Kara, whatever happens, it seems that Lena and you are still friends... well I think,” she told herself.

Not only the building was still where she remembered, but also the efficient Jess was still employed as Lena’s secretary.

“Miss Danvers, you already recovered from your surgery?” Jess greeted her cordially “I’m sure that Miss Luthor will be happy to hear about your recovery.”  
“Well yes, it seems that we’re still friends” Kara thought.

Kara entered Lena’s office after having given two light knocks to warn of her presence. Lena was facing the other way, it looked like she was looking through the large window. 

“I told you that no one was to disturb me, Jess.”  
“I’m not Jess” Kara said “Hi, Lena.”

Lena was startled when she recognised her voice and she quickly turned around to look at her. Kara realised the effect she had caused, but she didn’t understand it, and she also didn’t understand the fear that she perceived in her green eyes. Even her heart started pounding quicker. Kara smiled slightly but Lena was still looking at her with an evident distrust. 

“Lena?” Kara insisted.

Lena was observing her carefully with a gesture of preoccupation and she ended up focusing on her eyes. After a few seconds, Lena’s face started to relax. She recognised her. Those clear and pure eyes, filled with kindness... those eyes that made her sigh.

“Kara, you’re cured!, ” Lena shouted with sparkling eyes, running to hug her.

Kara felt Lena’s arms holding on tight to her body, almost with despair. It took her aback and she didn’t react in time to hug her back. Afterwards, Lena let her go a little and emerged herself back in her beautiful blue eyes, sure that there was a trace of wickedness. She needed to feel her again like before and she rushed to kiss her on the lips. Kara moved away enough so that she avoided the kiss and she looked at her with a strange expression.

“What are you doing?” she exclaimed, uncomfortable

“What kind of friendship do we have?” she wondered astonished.

Lena took a few steps back, hurt by the rejection and she contemplated her again. It was true that she didn’t see wickedness in her eyes but she didn’t see love or passion either, only confusion and awkwardness. Had the cure stolen her memories? No, this could not be her Kara. The young woman was heartbroken seeing the profound disappointment that tainted Lena’s green eyes.

“Who are you?” she asked at last, “From what world have you come?”   
Kara was greatly surprised. Lena knew about the existence of the multiverse, so she opted to speak up  
“I’m Kara Danvers but it’s clear that this is not my Earth.”  
XXXXXX

 

They both sat on the couch in the office and Kara told Lena that it had only been two hours since she had crossed a portal from Earth-1 to go back to hers, Earth-38, but for some unknown reason she didn’t get there.

“Now you are on Earth 40 and I think things are a bit different than you expected,” Lena explained.  
“Totally,” she admitted  
“I’m sorry for before… for a moment I thought you were my girlfriend,” Lena confessed with a faint gesture.  
“Your… your girlfriend?” Kara exclaimed, bewildered   
“Yes,” she said with a smile, “you didn’t think that I welcome all my friends like that, right?  
“What?... no, I suppose not,” Kara replied awkwardly but she didn’t stop smiling.  
Lena felt nostalgia, this Kara was as adorable as the one in her earth, like she was before she changed.  
“It would be best if you spoke with your sister and with J’onn,” Lena said with determination “I’m sure that they can help you.”  
“You know J’onn J’onzz?,” she asked, surprised again  
“Yes, and from time to time I pay them a visit at the DEO. I collaborate with them when they need me,” she clarified with pride. Kara was still not reacting. Lena raised her left eyebrow with amusement.  
“I’m sorry, it’s just that… all of this seems surreal,” Kara confessed between laughs.  
“Come on, let’s not waste more time and let’s go to the DEO,” Lena suggested, “Will you take me flying or should I ask for my helicopter?”  
“What?” Kara was completely out of it. Lena was casually addressing her as Supergirl.  
“I better go in my helicopter, I don’t like flying at all and it seems that you’re not used to carry me in your arms,” she joked. Kara just smiled like an idiot.   
XXXXXX

 

Kara, dressed as Supergirl, landed in the place that Lena had indicated. So on Earth-40, the DEO was still where it began in her world, in the suburbs of National City. The arrival provoked a commotion, some guards pointed their guns at her, looking terrified. Kara tried to convince them that she didn’t mean any harm. The fear that they all showed when they saw her started to get on her nerves. After minutes of tense conversation, they let her go inside the facilities, and there she was received by Mon-El.

He was wearing a DEO uniform, Mon-El as an agent? Well that was surprising.  
“So you’re coming from another Earth,” He asserted.  
“Yes. Where is my sis…” she didn’t finish the word, was she really her sister?, “Where is Alex?”  
“She’s on the phone, but she’ll come.”  
“And J’onn?”  
“He doesn’t work here anymore, I took his position,” Mon-El announced.  
“What?! You?!” Kara couldn’t believe it. The Mon-El that she knew would have never accepted a position with such responsibilities; in fact, he wouldn’t even be ready to accept it. Was everything so different on this Earth?  
“It’s a joke, J’onn went out a while ago, he won’t be long.”  
“That’s more like you,” Kara whispered.  
“What?”  
“Nothing.”

“Hi, Kara,” Winn held out his hand to her, “It’s a pleasure to meet more people from different Earths.”  
“You’ve known more people from… ?”  
“Yes, a Barry Allen visited us from Earth-7 and he explained to us everything he knew about the multiverse.” Kara turned to the door as she heard her sister’s voice.  
“Alex…” she said softly. But Alex didn’t give her any warm gesture. So Kara decided not to approach her, it was clear that she didn’t consider her family.   
“How did you come here?,” Alex asked.  
“Flying.”  
“Shit,” she cursed, “do you think that someone saw you?”  
“No, I don’t think so, I came flying very fast but why?”  
“You think or you’re sure?” Agent Danvers insisted. Kara felt a little bit harassed.  
“Calm down, Alex, I don’t think that anyone saw her, the media would have already talked about it.”  
“Maggie?,” Kara looked at the young detective, “You know the DEO too?”  
“Seems like that,” Maggie replied, “Even though now I’m not as useful as before.”   
She showed her the crutches that helped her walk. Kara saw that her leg was covered in iron and wires.  
“What happened to you?” Kara asked with genuine concern.  
“My sister is what happened…” Alex blurted out with some anger.  
“Alex…” Maggie said, resting her hand on the agent’s wrist to calm her down.  
“It’s clear that something happened with my alter ego on this Earth,” Kara affirmed, “Everybody is scared to see me, even knowing where I come from.”  
“We can explain it to you.”  
“J’onn! Lucy!”  
XXXXXX

 

Kara sat with the others around a large table in the meeting room. Lena took a seat too, she had arrived on time for the talk. All the people attending greeted her and she sat next to Winn, with whom she seemed to get along really well. Only Alex was standing, leaning on the wall, giving sideways looks to the exact copy of her sister.

“A little more than two months ago, our Kara started to change,” J’onn said, “she became selfish, careless, irresponsible… We thought that she was going through a bad period, maybe too much work, we didn’t want to give it too much importance.”  
“But one day she lost control in a mission and she was about to kill two of our agents,” Mon-El added.  
“We understood that we had to stop her before the people of National City heard about it and started panicking,” J’onn continued.  
“The DEO contacted the army and I came to collaborate,” Lucy said.  
“Fortunately, we found her before she killed anyone,” J’onn added, “we used kryptonite to weaken her and we confined her in a maximum security cell, here, in our facilities.”  
“But no everybody came back unharmed from that mission,” Alex suddenly pointed out. Kara looked at her and right away she looked at Maggie, it was clear that she was talking about her.  
“I had bad luck,” Maggie said, “Kara wasn’t having a good day when I ran into her,” she joked.  
“Well what you’re talking about happened to me on my Earth, I changed too that way…”  
“Really? How did you resolve it?,” Lena asked very interested.  
“I was infected by a synthesised product developed by Maxwell Lord in his lab, my sister and her team managed to create an antidote.”  
All the people present looked disconcerted  
“Maxwell Lord is a quite famous lawyer in National City but he’s not a scientist nor does he have a lab,” J’onn informed.  
“What?,” Kara exclaimed, “So why did your Kara change like that?”  
“We don’t know,” Lena admitted, “and we have been looking for a way to get her back for two months but unsuccessfully.”  
Kara sighed with discouragement. The situation was much worse that she had thought at the beginning.  
“For now, we only know that Supergirl has become a monster capable of anything,” Alex affirmed, “she felt no compassion when she destroyed my girlfriend’s leg or when she attacked Lena. It’s my sister and I don’t recognise her!”   
Alex tightened her fist hard until her knuckles turned white. Kara found out something else, on Earth-40, Alex and Maggie were dating it seemed, the detective hadn’t friendzoned Alex like in her world.

After a few minutes where no one dared to break the silence, Kara spoke again.  
“How are you dealing with this regarding the population?”  
“We had to lie,” J’onn admitted, “We told them that Supergirl had to help some friend from another planet and that she would come back when they resolve it.”  
“And in her absence, J’onn, Guardian and I are in charge of protecting the city, with the help of the DEO,” Mon-El.  
“Cat Grant offered her help and she was in charge of announcing it to the city through CatCo,” J’onn said.  
“In exchange, she only asked for an exclusive interview about the absence of my girlfriend,” Lena said, “and of course, her magazine sold well.” She smiled, as well as Lucy and Winn. They knew that Cat Grant wouldn’t miss a single opportunity. “She tried to get me to tell her the secret identity of Supergirl. I like her, she has good vision for business.”   
“So Cat is still in National City,” Kara thought, “and as curious and persistent as always,” she smiled.”  
“What excuse give did you give to explain Kara Danvers’s absence at CatCo?”  
“I said that my sister was ill and that she needed surgery and time to recover from the operation,” Alex replied.  
“Well thought.”

The meeting ended and J’onn gave instructions to Alex and Mon-El to keep the city safe.  
“I’m going to go too I’ll be available on my phone for anything you need,” Lucy said. Then she moved closer to Mon-El and kissed him on the lips. “Be careful,” she whispered to him. But Kara could hear it perfectly.  
“Those two are… ?,” she asked in disbelief.  
“Yes, they are together,” Winn replied, “Why do women like Lucy or Lena only pay attention to powerful aliens?” he exclaimed with regret, “Doesn’t matter, don’t answer me.”

Lena could barely hide her smile and Kara got a little nervous when she saw her. The alien who had caught Lena’s attention was her. Well, no exactly, but almost.

Winn and Lena asked Kara how she had created the portal to travel between parallel worlds and Kara told them everything about her adventure against the Dominators on Earth-1 and the gift that Cisco had given her. They both took a moment to observe it up close.

“It’s clear that its effect diverted slightly and it brought you to Earth 40 instead of getting you to your Earth,” Winn affirmed. Lena nodded very convinced.  
“I had forgotten that you two are quite…” They looked at her frowning, “brainy,” she added smiling.  
“I think that we could fix it,” Lena said.  
“Really?”  
“Yes, I think so, too, but… it’ll take us days, we’ve never build anything like it, we don’t know the internal structure,” Winn admitted.  
“Oh… I see,” Kara sighed.  
“But we will do, trust us,” Lena took her hand and gave it a soft squeeze. Kara was a bit startled when she touched her. Lena noticed and took away her hand straight away, fearing that she had made her uncomfortable once again. “Sorry… Alex!”

Lena approached Alex and started a conversation with her. It seemed that she was asking her something. Alex didn’t feel like giving in. Kara couldn’t contain herself and she used her power to listen to their conversation.  
“Please, Alex, I want to see her.”  
“Lena, I don’t think that it’s advisable…”  
“Please…,” she insisted.  
“Fine, but only for a few minutes, you already know she gets agitated when she sees you.”  
Lena agreed and then she got in an elevator with a DEO agent. Kara thought they were talking about her alter ego and she felt curious to see her but it was a stupid idea and she discarded it immediately.

Alex was talking to some agents and Kara got away from there until she heard a familiar voice and stopped walking.  
“Hey, Kara,” It was Maggie Sawyer’s voice.  
“Maggie…”  
“Too much information in only a few hours, right?,” she affirmed with a sincere smile which Kara returned. “I felt a little confused too when I knew that my girlfriend was Supergirl’s sister but I imagine that it’s worse for you, everything is different from what you know.  
“Yes,” Kara replied.  
“Can I ask you something?”  
“Yes, of course.”  
“Are Alex and I together on your Earth?,” Maggie asked.  
“Well… It’s a bit complicated,” she admitted, “Alex liked you a lot and she told you so, but you said that it would be better to be just friends.”  
“Oh, wow… so, no?,” she mumbled, “It’s hard to believe that I could be without her in any world,” she confessed looking all loved up, “but don’t tell her cause I’m sure that it’ll get to her head,” she joked.  
“Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me,” Kara assured.   
How nice it was to see her sister with someone who loved her like that, even if it’s on another Earth. Maybe on hers with time, Maggie and her…?  
“Maggie, let’s go home now,” Alex said. The detective said goodbye to Kara, shared a tender kiss with her girlfriend and walked towards the exit with the crutches.   
“So you live together,” Kara thought, “that’s why Alex was not in her flat.”  
Kara turned to Alex who was staring at her.

“What?”  
“I want to apologise.”  
“What for?,” Kara didn’t understand Alex’s intentions.  
“For the cold welcome,” the agent said, “it’s just that seeing you affected me a little. It’s like getting my sister back but not really, you know? It’s hard for me.”  
“Don’t worry, it’s okay, you’re not the only one that was affected by my presence,” Kara asserted.  
“I can imagine.”  
They both thought about Lena Luthor, who was just getting out of the elevator. She was hiding her face with her hand. No, she was wiping off tears with her hand. Kara felt sad seeing her like that.   
“She went to see her right?”  
“Yes,” Alex replied. They saw her dry her tears and show a smile to the agents who walked by her, “Lena is admirable. She’s having worse time than I am and she never loses her nerve or is rude to anyone. She’s always smiling to everyone.”  
Kara couldn’t stop looking at her. Like Alex was just saying, Lena maintained a little smile on her face when she reached them, even though she was crying moments before.  
“An agent told me that J’onn wants to see the three of us.”  
“Ok, let’s go.”  
Kara exchanged a look with Alex who nodded and they walked silently with Lena. Even though she wanted to know what had happened in her meeting with the other Kara, she didn’t dare to ask her, she didn’t want to make her even sadder. 

“Maybe you got here by mistake, Kara, but… for us, it is a miracle,” J’onn assured, “We should make the most out of this situation.”  
“What do you mean?” Kara asked.  
“It has already been two months, people are worried,” Winn informed, “There are rumours that maybe Supergirl is never coming back.”  
Kara noticed that, after hearing this, Lena looked down. Then she focused her attention on J’onn and Winn.  
“For now, you can’t go back to your Earth, and we need to show National City that they can still count on Supergirl’s protection.”  
“What do you want me to do?,” Kara said, starting to understand.  
“We need for Kara Danvers to go back to CatCo and for Supergirl to fly in the sky again,” J’onn asserted straightforward, “and end those rumours.”  
“You want me to take her place…”  
“At least, until Winn and miss Luthor fix Cisco’s invention.”  
“I guess that I can do it,” Kara said with a soft voice.  
“But… how are we going to do this exactly?,” Lena asked with concern, “because we’ll have to show ourselves as a couple.”  
“We’ll arrange it now, if you both agree… we need you.”  
Kara and Lena looked at each other. Then they looked at J’onn and agreed.

Kara remembered a conversation with Lena on her Earth  
“Who would’ve believed it? A Luthor and a Super working together… I hope that we can work together more again in the future.  
“Me too.”  
“Who would’ve believed it? A Luthor and a Super sleeping together…” She thought. And she started blushing. She cleared her throat and dedicated all her attention back to J’onn J’onz.


	2. Chapter 2

Kara listened intently all that J’onn was telling her about the relationship between Lena Luthor and Supergirl while she glanzed from time to time to Lena, who was listening silently with a sad smile on.  
On Earth-40, Supergirl and Lena Luthor were recently the most famous couple. They were very loved in the country, and specially in National City, where they helped. Kara had her kriptonian powers and Lena had the technology and economical power of her company, L Corp. On the other hand Kara Danvers worked as a journalist at CatCo, and obviously almost anyone knew who she really was.  
“Because of that, when Kara wasn’t wearing her Supergirl suit she couldn’t be affectionate towards Miss Luthor in public”. Said J’onn.  
“That seems logical” was Kara’s response. “But…How did this come to light?”  
“It was Cat who had the idea of showing us as a couple and that way promote our relationship”. Affirmed Lena, who finally broke her silence.  
“Cat?” asked a surprised Kara. The Cat she knew was not fond of gossip.  
“Yes, Cat Grant herself” assured Lena.  
Kara frowned, she didn’t completely understand it. Lena, realizing that proceed to clarify.  
“See… on one occasion a photographer caught us kissing, Supergirl and I, I mean… he worked for CatCo Magazine and showed the pictures to Cat Grant. She, instead of publishing them, called me to ask about it, and I told her I was dating Supergirl because I didn’t think that was something bad I had to hide.  
“Of course not” added Alex.  
After coming out and starting her relationship with Maggie Sawyer, Alex completely backed Kara when the blonde confessed she was falling in love with Lena Luthor. Kara looked at her and smiled, the support between the Danvers sisters was absolute, just like on her own Earth, and she felt a pang of longing then.  
“And then Cat Grant asked us to introduce ourselves to the world as a couple” continued Lena “it would be a show of tolerance between humans and aliens, of confidence, of connection, of respect… of love, that could help a lot of people”.  
“That’s true” said J’onn “since their relationship was made public, others arose between anonymous humans and aliens that weren’t afraid of being a couple in front of everyone. L Corp also gained confidence, leaving behind its past as Luthor Corp.  
“And I suppose Cat wanted the exclusive” noted Kara.  
“Well, Cat insisted she named and promoted Supergirl and therefore she deserved to introduced her relationship.  
“Yes, that’s like her” admitted Kara.

“Now that you know how was everything before our Kara changed…” J’onn resumed the conversation to avoid further rambling “you’ll have to play both parts, Kara Danvers at CatCo and Supergirl with Lena to end those damned rumors.  
“Some people speculated there was a bad breakup between Luthor and Supergirl, and that’s why Supergirl was gone for good” pointed out Alex “Said it was expected of a Luthor”.  
“You see, even now some still maintain I’m bad” murmured Lena sadly.  
Those ill-intentioned rumors angered Kara. How many good things would have to do Lena Luthor to be free of her brother’s sins?  
“Then, do you agree Kara?” inquired J’onn, snapping her out of her thoughts.  
“Yes” exclaimed Kara. Knowing about the rumors had convinced her.  
“Great, you would just have to fake it up when you are Supergirl and Lena Luthor in public, and you won’t need great displays of affection, you were always very discreet.  
“Oh, it would be easy, then” affirmed Kara. Lena happily grinned, that unfamiliar Kara didn’t think a sacrifice to pose as her girlfriend.  
“I think if you share some kisses and hold hands it will work” piped Alex “you can’t show yourselves as just good friends, there has to be more. You understand, right Kara?”  
“Yes, yes I understand” assured Kara blushing soflty. Lena eyed her and smirked.  
“Then we have nothing else to say” sentenced J’onn “Cisco’s invention will remain at the DEO facilities so that Winn can have a look at it, and I’ll contact Cat Grant, inform her of the developments and focus things for the media.  
XXXXXX

Lena said she wanted to stop by L Corp before arriving home and Kara accompanied her, after all, the more time she spent with Kara, the more she’ll get to know her and the easier would be to pose as her girlfriend. Lena happily agreed and hoped onto her private helicopter while Kara returned to L Corp flying as Supergirl.

During the short time she spent flying, Kara thought about the differences she encountered in this new Earth, but specially about the one that difference she liked most: that Lena Luthor was respected and loved, while the Lena of her own world still struggled to show her good intentions. The moment she got back she would do everything in her power to make Lena get the recognition and respect she deserved, and she would thank her for her actions against Cadmus and Medusa.

Kara had to wait for a while at Lena’s office balcony. If it wasn’t for her kryptonian nature protecting her from feeling warm and cold like the humans she would have frozen in that winter weather. When Lena stepped into her office and spotted Supergirl at the other side of the glass she hurried to let her in.  
“Sorry” she apologized “my helicopter is not as fast as you”.  
“Don’t worry”  
Kara gifted her with a sincere smile and entered the office. Lena could not keep her eyes off of her, it was like having her girlfriend by her side once again. What a strange sensation. She only averted her eyes when Kara spoke once more.  
“I’m curious about that picture” Kara pointed at the frame Lena had hanging at the wall where she appeared together “I noticed it’s the same as the billboards all over the city”.  
“It was the cover of CatCo Magazine where we made our relationship official” remembered Lena “the magazine sold so well the city council asked for it to made the billboards of National City… I suppose after your revelation as a superhero our relationship was the most popular thing that happened to this city” Kara eyed the picture intently “What’s wrong?” asked an amused Lena.  
“It’s just, I don’t know how I could have posed like that, I’m not good at posing and worse yet with company” confessed.  
Lena smiled even more and recalled that day’s memories.

The photographer tried to immortalize them together but Kara couldn’t keep calm and kept looking forced.  
“Honey, relax” begged Lena softly “I don’t understand, you have taken pictures for CatCo before”  
“But it wasn’t the same Lena, I was alone and now you’re here as well” Lena smiled.  
“That makes it more interesting don’t you think?” whispered the brunette suggestively when the photographer inspected his camera. Kara flushed and Lena laughed “I adore you”.  
“Don’t laugh Lena! Dressed as Supergirl I shouldn’t appear so…  
“Adorable?” suggested Lena, smile still present on her face.  
“Well, yes. I should appear soberer” affirmed Kara frowning.  
“I like you when you’re all business too…” mumbled Lena into Kara’s ear.  
“Lena!” exclaimed Kara, she was starting to be very agitated and regrettably they weren’t alone to act on her impulse and devour her girlfriend. She adored this seductive side of her girlfriend.  
“Sorry, if you allow me…” interrupted the photographer “I think the picture should show power, trust and the connection between the two of you.  
“And how can we pull that off?” asked Kara, stressed. Lena was giggling again.  
“Supergirl, Miss Luthor…” called Cat Grant, entering Lena’s office “Given that this will be the cover of my Magazine, can I make a couple of suggestions?”  
“Please” begged a grateful Kara.  
One way or another, Cat always ended up helping her in moments of necessity even though they were as silly as this photo op.  
After more than twenty minutes of debating possibilities among all except for Kara, they finally took the final photo. Kara was serious and imposing, with a serene and proud expression. Lena grappled her arm, hiding softly behind her, a relaxed gesture on her face and a gentle smile that showed how secure she felt beside her girlfriend.  
“It’s perfect” manifested Lena and kissed Kara on the cheek.  
“it’s pretty…” said Kara.  
“it’s the next best-selling number of CatCo Mag.” Sentenced Cat.

“Lena?” Kara called the brunette for the third time, and finally she shook her head and came back to the present.  
“Sorry, my head was in the clouds” Lena turned her attention to Kara “we had help from an expert” added Lena with a smile.  
XXXXXX

Alex was puffing out a throwing pillow for Maggie, who was sitting on the sofa.  
“Where will Kara spend the night?” asked Maggie.  
“I suppose at my sister’s apartment, I lend her the keys” answered Alex, taking a seat beside her girlfriend.  
“Don’t you think she will feel uncomfortable there? It’s not her house. Maybe you should have told her to stay here instead.”  
“With us?” inquired Alex.  
“Sure, we have a spare bedroom.”  
“Better not… it’s violent for me” Alex looked away.  
“This Kara is innocent, and so are you.”  
Alex exhaled and tried to dodge her girlfriend, but Maggie was faster and grabbed the redhead’s face with her hands.  
“When will you stop torturing yourself for what happened?” spoke Maggie softly, throwing in a sweet smile.  
“It was my duty to take care of my little sister, and I didn’t do it Maggie…” lamented Alex. “And because of that many colleagues were injured, even Lena and you…”  
“Alex… I’m fine, and Lena and the others… you stopped her before she killed anyone.”  
“But she’s sick and I don’t know how to help her, and you…” Alex got rid of Maggie’s hands and looked at the brunette’s leg and the tangle of iron and wires around it.  
“Danvers, on guard!” Maggie exclaimed suddenly.  
“What?” Alex became bewildered.  
Maggie gave no explanation. She lunged towards Alex and maneuvering over her she immobilized the expert DEO agent holding her arm behind her back and surrounding her neck.  
“I what?” inquired Maggie “Were you insinuating I’m not able to kick your ass anymore without breaking a sweat, Danvers?”  
“Ok, I got it!” blurted out Alex, trying to get rid of her girlfriend’s grip.  
When her girlfriend released her, Alex caught her breath and stared at her lovingly. If it wasn’t for Maggie she probably would have gone mad. Alex Danvers had a hard time knowing she couldn’t do anything to amend things, and that powerlessness was eating away at her.  
“I think I’m going to call Kara and tell her to come here” Maggie smiled tilting her head. Alex loved that gesture “but first I have to kiss you”.  
This time it was Alex who took Maggie by surprise, framing her face and kissing her impulsively. Maggie didn’t miss a beat and returned the kiss, clutching her neck. Alex leant forward trying not to hurt Maggie’s leg, until she hovered over the brunette. Maggie was still grabbing her neck while Alex’s hands creeped under her shirt. Maggie gasped. Alex smiled feeling powerful.  
“Call Kara right now” whispered Maggie trying to catch her breath “because if you wait one more minute I assure you, you won’t…”  
Alex laughed against Maggie’s neck.  
XXXXXX

“Well, I think we have enough for today” announced Lena tiredly “I should go sleep a little, and you too.”  
“Yeah…” replied Kara without looking at her.  
“What happens?”  
“Alex lent me the keys to her sister’s apartment, but… I think it’s going to be too odd for me…” admitted her soberly.  
“You could stay in my apartment if you wanted” offered Lena immediately.  
“Huh?” Kara lifted her head and met Lena’s beautiful green eyes. “Are you sure?” Kara hesitated “I don’t want to be a burden; my arrival has altered your lives enough”.  
“Absolutely not!” exclaimed Lena “and more after accepting posing as my girlfriend to calm everybody’s mood.”  
On the inside, Lena wasn’t sure if inviting Kara home was a good idea. However she looked at her, she was the living image of her girlfriend, exactly like her, and not just physically, but also her way of being. But, maybe because of that she couldn’t avoid it, she wanted to keep her close. Kara made a face considering the Luthor’s offer when her borrowed DEO cellphone rang, it was Alex.

“Yes?”  
“Kara, where are you?”  
“At L Corp, with Lena.  
“I know I gave you the keys to my sister’s apartment but… if you want you can come home, we have a spare bedroom Maggie and I.”  
“Sleep at your house?” repeated Kara out loud, as if she wanted to make Lena know. The green-eyed girl looked at her with a smile, but she wasn’t able to hide her disappointment. Kara didn’t need anything else “Thanks Alex, but Lena already offered me her apartment and I think it will be good for me to be seen around there for credibility’s sake, don’t you think?”  
Lena looked away but her face showed satisfaction, Kara smiled at her.  
“Oh, I didn’t think about that, it’s a great idea” affirmed Alex “I bet Lena’s apartment is larger than ours too.”  
Kara listened to Maggie grumble and struggled to hide her laugh. Alex sounded happy and relaxed for the first time since she knew this Earth’s version of her.  
“Good night Alex.”  
“Good night Kara, and greet Lena for us.”

“You’ll stay with me then?” asked Lena to make everything clear.  
“Yes…” Kara lost herself for a moment in her emerald eyes. Did the Lena of her Earth so beautiful and green? “Oh! Alex sends her regards.”  
“Alex can be a bit rude but deep down she’s a softie” replied Lena. Kara was surprised for how well she described her sister, it was clear in Earth-40 the fact that they’re sisters-in-law made them know each other very well “Well, do I ask for my helicopter or do we try flying there?” she inquired. Kara tensed a bit at that.  
“Well… I suppose we should try to fly together” admitted Kara. If she wanted to be believable she couldn’t be nervous or insecure about having the Luthor in her arms.  
“I think the same, but I think I’ll have to guide you, I don’t suppose you know where I live” Kara nodded.

Lena let Kara lift her in her arms. She did that effortlessly and both started to raise above L Corp’s balcony. Then Lena gave Kara directions and the kryptonian started to get moving slowly. Lena grabbed Kara’s neck and buried her face on her golden locks.  
“Oh God, you smell just like her”, thought an affected Lena.  
“Are you ok?” asked Kara, worried to see Lena so shriveled.  
“Yes, sorry” answered Lena raising her head “it’s a habit.”

Lena tried to keep her distance considering she was in Kara’s arms; she didn’t want to make the blonde uncomfortable. She had enough to deal with herself. How to trick her body and make it believe those strong arms weren’t her girlfriend’s? How to avoid her body’s reactions towards that missed contact? She was glad Kara was looking straight ahead because otherwise she would have noticed Lena was starting to blush. And then she remembered Kara didn’t need to look at her to figure out her reactions, she had super senses. She moaned embarrassed and Kara almost missed a beat.

Kara had been convincing herself Lena’s heart rate was due to her fear of flying and even more of flying with someone she wasn’t used with. But that unexpected sound revealed another motive for Lena’s state of being: the strange sensation of a body so familiar and so strange at the same time. She thought it was best to focus on the route and not pay any special attention to Lena, otherwise she would end up scaring her with turbulences. However, her body betrayed her from time to time, and forced her to admit it was nice to feel Lena’s warm body next to her on National City’s nocturnal sky.

To be continued…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone. I'm sorry to say this, but I'm thinking about stop publishing this english version of my fanfic "Tierra 40". I thought I would find someone who was native english speaker or bilingual to get help but it's not the case, so... I think I can't keep doing this.   
> Anyway, thanks a lot to all the readers, kudos and comments :) I really apreciate them.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I found help so, here you have the third chapter. I hope you like it :)
> 
> Thanks a lot, Argelia, for you translation! ;)

Landing smoothly on the balcony that Lena indicated, Kara gently lowered her from within her arms just steps away from a glass door.  
“I always leave it open” she said with a smile opening the door of the balcony and walking in.   
Following her Kara was amazed at the vastness of the apartment that was six times the size of her modest abode.   
Lena Luthor was the proud owner of various buildings in national city, in addition to the L-Corp headquarters, and her home resided in one of them. She explained that she lived peacefully this way, without trouble from neighbors, since no one else occupied the floor.   
Kara was walking without aim when Lena told her she was going to go change. The Kryptonian took advantage to continue contemplating this unknown place.   
The decor was modern with minimalist lines, very like that of Lenas’ office in L Corp. On the few furniture were some photos where they appeared, well, no, Lena and the other Kara. What a strange feeling it was to see herself and not remember all those moments.   
Her attention was drawn to a photo. It was very simple, a close-up with Lena in which both were happy and natural, without makeup or expensive clothes. Surely, they did it at some point in the day. Unintentionally, she felt happiness, almost as if that photo showed a memory of her own. She frowned, surprised by her own reaction to a picture foreign to her. Then she felt sadness for Lena remembering that the Kara in the photo had disappeared, and that Lena had not smiled like that for a while.  
Lena had already returned to the living room, but said nothing, stood by the door, in silence, watching Kara, who held that photo in her hands.   
Closing her eyes she could almost hear Karas’ voice from that day.  
"We have to celebrate our first weekend spent together," Kara suggested.  
“You thought of something?” Lena asked, raising an eyebrow.  
"This deserves a selfie", Kara exclaimed. She held the phone in front of their faces and fired a photo (or several).  
kissing Lena on the cheek she turned the camera on again. But to the fourth selfie, the cell phone was forgotten in a corner of the sofa. They had more interesting things to do, such as kissing and caressing.  
"I want you to come and live with me," Lena said suddenly, breaking away from her girlfriend's lips.  
"Will there be enough space here for three?" Kara joked, alluding to her two personalities.  
"We can start by checking in bed, don’t you think?" She bit her bottom lip and Kara felt her heart race.  
"Lena ..." she whispered before kissing her mouth and lifting her in her arms to go to their room.  
“Lena!” Kara was startled to see her there, "I was just looking," she said as she put the photograph back in place.  
"I understand your curiosity," Lena said.   
Kara looked at her and narrowed her eyes.  
"What?" Lena exclaimed.  
"Oh, sorry, I've never seen Lena Luthor in such ... comfortable clothes.”  
Lena blushed, she had forgotten that this Kara did not know many of her facets.  
"You see, even Lena Luthor wears pajamas in her apartment," she said, still smiling, gesturing with her hands.   
Kara also smiled. "And where am I going to ...?" she asked.  
“Oh yeah! You'll occupy one of the guest rooms, it has a bathroom, follow me."  
Even the guest room looked luxurious. It would be like staying in a five-star hotel for a few days, what could go wrong?  
"Thank you, Lena, I'm going to go to your girlfriend's apartment to get some clothes and I'll be right back."  
"Okay, I'm going to bed now, I need sleep," Lena admitted. “Good evening, Kara”  
“Goodnight” Kara tilted her head a little before disappearing through the terrace door.  
Lena got into a bed that felt so cold and empty without her girlfriend in it. She shrugged and closed her eyes to try to sleep, but a slight noise made her smile. Kara had already returned with her clothes, and had hit some of the furniture. she had clearly not turned on the lights, just as her girlfriend always did. She closed her eyes tightly, not wanting to cry again. It was so strange and frustrating to have Kara back at home but not in her bed. she had to learn to deal with those sensations or she would lose her head.  
XXXXXX

 

Kara went to the DEO in the morning and noticed J'onn was having a videoconference with Cat Grant, who was in her office at CatCo.  
"Hi Alex," Kara said as she entered the room.  
"Hey Supergirl" Alex stepped up to her  
“J'onn is informing Cat of all this, she's a good ally." She informed her as Kara turned to the main screen.  
"Then we do have two Supergirls’ here on Earth, interesting," Cat said thoughtfully.  
"Actually, it's like we only have one, the one we all know is still out of it”  
"Has there been any progress?" Cat asked with concern.  
"Not at the moment," J'onn admitted.  
"All right, National City must be convinced that Supergirl is back and that her love affair with Lena Luthor is still intact," Cat exclaimed.  
Kara smiled, that was just what the media queen of her world would have said.  
"Is she the new Supergirl?" she asked, pointing to Kara, who jumped at the sight. J'onn and the others looked at her, too. The resemblance absolute.  
"Hello, Miss Grant," she said.  
“Welcome to our Earth, Supergirl-38”  
"You'd better get used to calling me just Supergirl," Kara said.  
"I know," Cat said. “But let me distinguish between you when accompanied by people who know the truth”.  
she did not really ask permission, Cat Grant never did, Kara knew she was just reporting it. Although Cat Grant offered them Catcos’ collaboration, it was evident that this situation was not her cup of tea.  
"I admire your loyalty to the Supergirl of this world," Kara said sincerely.  
"Thank you, she deserves no less and I trust that the DEO can return her to us soon, it's nothing personal”. Kara nodded.  
"Will you make an announcement in one of your programs?" J'onn asked.  
"as a matter of fact, I think we should record an interview with the happy couple and issue it," Cat said, "so that the whole city can see that they are still together and in love and that everything is fine. You know for a fact Mr. J'onzz that an image of Supercorp is worth more than a thousand words from Cat Grant ... the audience is that basic, "she added with some contempt, waving a hand.  
"Supercorp?" Kara asked in bewilderment.  
"That's the name the press gave you," Alex explained. Super, and Corp, from L Corp.  
"I thought it was your idea too, Miss Grant?”  
"I do not waste my time creating the ship name of happy couples," she mumbled.  
After specifying the details of the interview, which would be in Lena's apartment to convey more closeness, Cat said goodbye and disappeared from the screen.  
"How much does Cat Grant know about me? I mean about Supergirl and Kara Danvers.”  
“Don't worry, she does not know about her double identity, for her they are two completely different people.”  
Kara sighed in relief, it would be the same as in her world so she couldn’t possibly mess up.  
"By the way, did Lena show you her attic?" Alex asked suddenly. Kara did not understand.  
"Only the living room and the where I sleep."  
"Tell her to show you everything, and try to keep things hidden, because the people in the press are very nosy, we do not want anyone to know that you've lived there for only a few hours."  
Kara had to admit that Alex was right. There were many details that I did not think of, lucky that I was not alone in this.  
"Now I must go test my sister, Mon-El can show you our facilities.”  
"Of course," he said, moving closer.  
Saying goodbye to Kara, Alex got into the same elevator Lena took the day before.  
"I do not recommend it," she heard Mon-El say.  
“What?”  
"You're curious to see your double, are you not?" he claimed.  
“Yes…”  
"Forget about it, I assure you, it would not be a pleasant experience."  
"But Alex and Lena go to see her."  
“Alex has to do it to cure her, and Lena ... well, she loves her very much ... I wonder if Lucy would visit me like this if we were in that situation. Well, follow me, I’ll give you a tour of the DEO.”  
XXXXXX

 

Alex reached the reinforced glass wall that closed her sister's cell. When Kara noticed her presence, she rose from the bench that made her bed.  
"why do you bless my eyes today little sister?" she said with a malicious grin.  
"Hello Kara," Alex said earnestly. “I have to draw blood from you to run some tests.”  
"More test?" she complained, "why don’t you stop wasting your time? I'm feeling better than ever!”  
"No, you're not, you're not yourself Kara”  
"On the contrary, I am more me than I have ever been, Alex" Kara approached the glass and rested her hands on the sides of her face. "But you do not want to accept it, because you prefer the meek little Kara that puts her ass on the line for every ungrateful human out there!”  
"I prefer my sister," whispered Alex before ordering two agents forward.  
The men entered the cell and held her by the arms to force her into a chair. All this would have been unthinkable if the cell were not equipped with Kryptonite radiation that weakened her enough that she could not offer any resistance.   
Alex walked over to her and pulled up the sleeve of her black T-shirt. The needle slid through muscle without any of the usual difficulty. When the tube filled with red liquid, Alex extracted the needle and put a bandage on it.  
"That's nice of you" she said sarcastically, "but don’t worry, I wouldn’t bleed”  
Alex left the cell while the agents returned to their guard posts, but her sister's voice stopped her.  
"How's Maggie? Still limping?" she asked smiling. Alex looked at her, eyes dampening. “Has she been permanently discharged?  
"Leave it alone," Alex said.  
"I hope this has not affected your relationship," she mocked mercilessly, "you two are so perfect for each other, so similar ..." Alex’s hands slowing curling into fists. "Neither of you is worth anything as an agent. Maggie couldn’t even defend herself against me, and you ... little sister, where were you when I had fun with her and Lena? You did not protect them”  
"Enough ..." she whispered.  
"You were late, what happened was your fault, and you know it." Kara looked at her with wide eyes and a wicked smile on her face. Even this thing that happened to me is your fault ... you're a failure as an agent, as a girlfriend and as a sister, "she said.  
“Enough!” Alex yelled, fighting back tears.  
"Damn it, Alex, making you cry is almost as easy as making Lena cry," she said scornfully “You disappoint me.”  
“THATS ENOUGH! Cried J'onn behind a trembling Alex.  
"My dear Martian chief," Kara said, laughing. “Always ready to protect his favorite puppy, right little sister?  
"Alex, go to your lab and work on those tests," he said as he walked over to the glass “We'll get you back to yourself, and I will not rest until we do "he said.  
XXXXXX

 

Alex opened the door to the apartment she shared with Maggie. said girlfriend came to meet her as soon as she heard the door, aided by her crutches.  
"How was today?" She asked, "any news about Kara?"  
"Which one?" Said Alex, barely looking at her. Maggie caught her arm and forced her to turn and look at her.  
"Hey! What happened?"  
"The same old thing ... the same thing that has been happening for two damn months," she muttered.  
"You haven’t learned anything new yet ..." she said with resignation.  
"When she looks at me and tells me these things ... I can’t muster enough hope to believe that my sister is still there," Alex confessed voice trembling.  
"Alex ... come here” Maggie offered her arms, and Alex collapsed over her small body, clinging to her as if she were her lifeguard in the middle of the sea.  
"Sometimes I feel like I can’t help her Maggie," she sobbed, "that I've lost her forever ..."  
"Of course you can, and I'll be with you through it all”  
Maggie kissed Alex's mahogany hair and hugged her even harder.  
XXXXXX

 

“I'll tell you something when I get it”  
“Sorry, Kara, that was Winn” Kara smiled and touched her glasses "He’s currently disarming the invention that Cisco gave you to see how to make it work properly”  
"Surely you can fix it, you two together are brilliant!”  
"Thank you." Lena bit her lower lip. Kara smiled as she remembered that the Lena of her world would regularly make that gesture.  
"Well, I suppose you know you have to show me every millimeter of your apartment"  
"Yes, it’s yours now too, so let's go home, " she corrected immediately. Kara smiled lowering her eyes.  
"Flying or in your car?"  
Lena was still affected by the feeling of being in her girlfriends’ arms again, even if it was not her girlfriend. But she was forced to fly with Kara because she had to get used to it, if they wanted to be credible. Kara felt the same need for practice, so they shared their mutual "torment".  
Lena showed Kara each one of the rooms in her apartment, giving Kara some time to memorize her location when finally they came upon the last, the master bedroom. Lena opened the door and entered first, Kara followed, and as she crossed the threshold, she felt a slight dizziness.  
she had to put a hand on the wall to steady herself. Lena looked back at her and understood. Walking over to a chest of drawers she pulled out two bracelets adorned with kryptonite. Kara was frightened, what did that mean?  
“Why do you have kryptonite in your room?!” Kara Exclaimed, bewildered and indignant.  
"I'm not going to use it against you!" Lena rushed out trying to calm her.  
"Were they to defend you from the other Kara when she went rogue?”  
"No ... this amount could not neutralize either of you" she admitted, gazing at the metal pieces.  
"so? I don’t understand, why do you have it here?" Kara insisted. Lifting her head Lena explained.  
"Well ..." Lena's cheeks flushed slightly. She looked away because she could not talk about it while looking at Kara at the same time. "When Kara and I ... were intimate ... she said that she was afraid of hurting me if she let herself go and lost control ..."  
"Oh!” with a rush of air Kara exclaimed, turning even redder than Lena herself.  
"It is not easy to keep a clear mind in such situations, is it?" Kara blushed. She wouldn’t know, never being intimate enough with a person to that point.   
“I got these manufactured with the right amount of kryptonite to weaken and not do any damage”  
"make her feel as if she were a human woman" Kara said.  
"Exactly ... so Kara could be with me without having to restrain herself, she deserved to feel what it is to give herself completely to another person, without restrictions”  
"Right" Kara agreed, reaching for her glasses.  
Lena put the bracelets in the drawer and they both left heading toward the living room.  
"You've seen the whole house," Lena announced. Kara looked at her again.  
“Yes…”  
“You're okay, right? Lena asked worriedly "Has the kryptonite affected you too much? I thought ..."  
"No, calm down, like you said, it was not enough to hurt me," she said. Lena was relieved.  
"But it has bothered you that we keep Kryptonite at home, I understand, I should have told you."  
“It has surprised me…”  
"I'm sorry," she said, apologetically.  
"It's not your fault, it's part of your ... your private relationship with your girlfriend, it's okay," Kara said quickly. “I'm going to bed, I'm exhausted and tomorrow I want to make a good impression for the interview" she said, smiling an exaggerated smile.  
“Of course, you’ll be great! Good night, Kara”  
“Night Lena…”

Safe, away from Lena and her kryptonite bracelets, Kara let her thoughts run free. Yes, she had been surprised that Lena had fragments of that deadly mineral for her, but what had left her unsettled was why.   
Until that night, Kara had visualized the pair Supercorp, as an advertising product, a living example of tolerance for people, she could not deny that the photo that adorned the city was beautiful ... But they were a lot more than that, they were a real couple, two flesh-and-blood women who were in love and who made love with all their desire when they were alone in their home.   
Thinking about the physical dimension of that relationship made her a little nervous. she knew that she didn’t have to replace her alter ego in that capacity, but she couldn’t control the fact that her mind had set out to torture her with arbitrary images of her carrying the cursed bangles and Lena ... Kara pressed the pillow against her face to stifle a small cry.  
Lenas’ mind was spinning, Though Kara had assured her that she was all right, she had not believed her.  
"All you Karas’ are bad liars” she thought, smiling.  
She remembered every gesture Kara had made, she’d been nervous, it was all too obvious. What she couldn’t wrap her mind around was why?  
Maybe she was bothered by the way the bracelets were used, but she did not want to lie to her. After almost an hour of overthinking, she decided to get out of bed. Pouring herself half a glass of red wine and sitting down on one of the lounge chairs, Lena spent her time looking through the glass doors Which overlooked the terrace.   
Watching the night sky was one of her favorite hobbies, especially the nights spent awaiting Supergirls’ return after some mission. But that night her girlfriend wouldn’t show.  
"Will you ever come back?" she asked the deafening silence, a tear slowly trickling down her cheek.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks a lot again, Argelia, for you translation! ;)

Kara heard glasses clinking and concluded that Lena was not sleeping either. Getting up in her pajamas Kara walked to the living room and saw Lena curled up on the couch with a blanket. Lena noticing her presence turned to face her. with loose hair and barely a trace of make-up Kara found her beautiful.  
"Kara ... can’t sleep?" Lena asked softly  
"Doesn’t look like you could either," Kara said  
"Come, sit with me," she offered with a calm smile “Do you want something to drink?”  
“No thanks” Kara responded  
When she sat by her side, Lena looked at her in silence for a few moments  
"Why do you wear the glasses here? You don’t need too" she asked  
"It's a reflex, I only take them off when I’m in my apartment," Kara admitted  
"I know your secret," Lena grinned as she eased her glasses off gently "You do not need them with me, Supergirl," she teased  
Kara looked down, bewildered. No one had ever taken her glasses off like that. A seemingly innocent but meaningful gesture for her when accompanied by the words Lena had given her. Luthor set her glasses on the glass table and returned her attention to the night sky. she drank a small sip of wine and cleared her throat.  
"Tomorrow, when Cat Grant comes with her team, I'll have to kiss you," she said without looking at her  
“why?” Kara raised her head  
"It would be too weird if we didn’t give each other a kiss, don’t you think?" Lena added, looking at her with those beautiful emerald eyes.  
"Yes, I suppose so," Kara murmured, feeling nervous again  
It was hard for Lena to hide her smile. How adorable she was, like her Kara when they met and started to date.  
"Don’t worry, it'll just be a peck, you'll follow the game plan and that's it”  
“Agreed”  
"And now it's better that we go lie down ..." Kara's cheeks flushed. Lena smiled "We have to sleep, right?" she mused.  
"Yes, of course, good night, Lena…. again”  
Kara spoke quickly and left the couch the same way, stumbling down the path back to her room.  
"Fuck ..." Lena mumbled under her breath.  
"Why do you have to look so much like her?"  
XXXXXX

 

After a light breakfast by Lena and abundant by Kara, they finalized the details for the interview. Lena stepped in front of Kara and took hold of her hands.  
"Focus on me and follow my lead, don’t worry about anything, everything will be fine. Kara nodded nervously. Lena squeezed her hands a little to infuse her with enough courage to face any villain and leaving her lacking it to face Cat Grant and her people.  
The couple received their guests holding hands. Cat gave them a half-smile when she saw them.  
"Good morning, Miss Luthor-Supergirl," said CatCo's mistress.  
"Cat!" Lena answered with a smile, "welcome to our house”  
"morning, Miss Grant," Kara said, watching her closely.  
As was the case with the others, it was an exact copy of her longed-for boss, even in that look of slight mistrust she was giving her. Kara knew that Cat was one of the people who connect the most with the Supergirl of this world.  
While Cat instructed her photographer and camera man, Lena led them into the living room, followed closely by Kara.  
"I've been thinking that in addition to the televised interview, we should publish an article in CatCo magazine showing a closer, less formal facet," Cat explained, "to assert the idea that you are more than a ... supers partner."  
Kara swallowed at the word partner. Lena looked at her tenderly and narrowed her distance, only inches from her face. she asked her in a whisper if it was all right, pretending complicity, she knew that Cat's employees did not take their eyes off her. Kara nodded.  
"That sounds like an excellent idea, tell us what you thought of," Lena said.  
"I'll write down some of the questions I'll ask you about later, and we could start with some photos," Cat said. “Roger, prepare the camera”  
“Photos?” Kara whispered.  
"it’s okay, I'll guide you." She winked at her and looked at Cat and the photographer.  
They stood side by side, holding hands, but Cat frowned at them  
"No, too formal ... we need something more relaxed, warmer"  
Lena seemed to understand Cat's instructions and stood in front of Kara, guiding her arms around her waist. she rested her hands over Kara's, and a tilt of the head let Kara peek over her shoulder. The Kryptonian was stiff as a pole, and with an excessively serious expression.  
"Relax, honey, it's just a few photos," Lena said. “she’s having a hard time quitting her reserved heroine pose," she joked.  
The men laughed. Even Kara giggled. Cat smiled, Lena never ceased to amaze her with her ability to resolve a setback, she was proud to consider her friend.

The photographer refocused. Kara smiled awkwardly, her discomfort evident. She felt momentarily stunned by Lena's scent. she could feel the heat of her body as she held her. But Lena's excuse was convincing for everyone except for Cat, who knew the truth behind her plight. she felt compassion for her. What a strange and complicated situation they had to live in.

Cat was reviewing the photos her employee had just made. Lena took advantage of the moment to take Kara's hands again and move closer to her ear.  
"Look at me," she whispered inaudibly to everyone but Kara. "Forget the cameras, pretend we're alone." Kara lost herself in Lena's eyes. "Ready?  
she managed to react and nodded firmly. She was the girl of steel, she would not wilt over some simple photos.  
Slowly, Kara let herself be carried away by Lena’s subtle indications. she began to relax and Roger's camera finally captured natural images. Supergirl and Lena Luthor sharing looks, laughter, hugs ... even a kiss on the cheek. Kara had managed to forget everything else, was starting to have fun and Lena thanked him. When he proposed a pose with a hand on her chest, Kara did not object, on the contrary, even strove to give more haughtiness to the gesture, causing some laughter amongst those present.

Cat, on the other hand, kept watching them, wondering how well they got along, and if they could get past to two women in love. Of course, she saw a certain connection between them. How long was the Supergirl-38 going to be in her world? Could Lena fall in love with the new Kara? And what could she possibly feel for Lena? Where was Supergirl of Earth-40 included into all of this? Cat felt uneasy at those disturbing thoughts and cut the photoshoot short, it was time to record the interview.

They settled on the couches in the large living room. Cat introduced the couple who both greeted the camera.  
"seems as though Supergirl has finally returned from her mission in another world," Cat said.  
"That's right," Lena said as she clasped her fingers with Kara's and pressed a little against her body. "I’m glad to have her here with me again," she added with a smile.  
Kara took a quick look at their intimately joined hands, then looked at the camera, trying to smile as convincingly as possible.  
Those smiles would satisfy the audience, but not cat grant. Lena's was tinged with sadness, because it was not true, her Supergirl had not returned, no matter how much she announced it to National City. While Kara's was nervous and even afraid to be discovered as the usurper that she really was. For a moment, Cat wished she did not know the truth behind the act, to be just one more of the populace who would believe it.

"How were these two months waiting for her?" sHe asked, looking at Lena.  
"Imagine, your girlfriend so far away, facing dangerous creatures ..." Lena said confidently. There was no doubt that she was a professional of appearances, one of the acquired traits of being a Luthor- “I spent the two months praying to her god Rao to protect her and return her to me safe and sound”  
Kara turned to her and looked at her tenderly. She liked that Lena used an element of her Kryptonian culture with that naturalness.  
"And for you, Supergirl?" Cat asked, looking at Kara.  
Suddenly she felt Lena squeeze her hand a little, wanting to convey support. Kara smiled and began to talk, after all, she had traveled to another world to fight dangerous creatures.  
"Every day that I was away from home, I wanted to return to my place, by her side." Kara looked at Lena, who was staring at her as well, lips parted slightly. She was determined to match Lena's efforts to make it all go well. “Her memory gave me the strength to fight and do my best to survive and return to her ”  
Lena blinked and opened her eyes, found herself on the same sofa, with those same blue eyes looking at her.  
"Every time I'm out there fighting, thinking about you keeps me from giving up." Her Kara lifted her hands to her lips and kissed them, "because I have to come back, no matter what, I'll always come back to you, my love. "  
Lena blinked again and returned to the present. She felt Kara still holding her hands. The Kryptonian sensed that Lena's heartbeat accelerated slightly, she knew it was anticipating something, but what?   
Lena released her hands and rested them on Kara's cheeks, which she then understood and her heart also accelerated. Lena bent over her, closed her eyes and kissed her. It was only two seconds, but enough to leave Kara gasping like a fish out of the water as her lips parted.  
"Well, it seems like your love is still going strong just as the first day," Cat exclaimed, drawing the attention of her staff, hogging the camera, and allowing her interviewees to regain their composure, especially Supergirl.

Kara knew that Lena had to kiss her, but she did not expect that such brief contact would leave her so affected. Was it because Lena Luthor was such a good kisser? Had she just thought Lena was a good kisser? she stopped staring at her and cleared her throat focusing on the interview. Lena also lifted her green eyes from her and took a deep breath.  
"Tell me, will you continue with your public appearances?" Cat asked.  
"Of course, it's part of our commitment to the city," said Lena, who seemed completely back to normal after the kiss, "and we really like to approach the people of National City.  
"Yes, because we are just two more people in this beautiful city," Kara added with a smile, "and we want them to see us as such."  
Lena took her hand again, invaded by a sense of pride at her words.

Several questions later, Cat terminated the interview and had her employees pick up the equipment. she approached the couple and spoke in a low tone.  
"The kiss was very realistic, congratulations," said Cat, "it was a wise move” Kara lowered her eyes, while Lena smiled.  
"I'll walk you to the door," Lena said, indicating with her arm to the exit.  
Maybe this will be easier than I thought ... Lena makes it easy, Kara told herself as she watched silently as Lena dismissed Cat's team.  
Once again alone, Kara approached Lena  
"It went well, right?" she asks  
"I'd say yes, Kara," Lena replied with a grin. "Excuse me, I'm going to my room for a moment."  
“okay”  
Lena closed the bedroom door, leaning back on it. She closed her eyes and took several deep breaths. The kiss had been seemed real because it had been real. Anyone who asked, would answer that that was what was expected of such an emotional moment like that. And they would believe it. Everyone would believe her, even Kara. she couldn’t possibly tell anyone the truth, that she had kissed her without thoughts of anything (or anyone) else, because her words and the way she had looked at her had confused her, causing her to see her Kara instead of her doppelganger.  
XXXXXXX

 

Alex entered the DEO shooting range, Agent Vasquez had informed her that Maggie was there. When she located her, she stood stock still, entranced with the image Maggie shooting at the targets. Maggie Sawyer was always ready to draw her pistol. It was so fast that Alex was surprised, her aim was legendary in the police force and for a time, also the DEO. she knew that in a close combat, Alex could defeat her, with the five months of intensive training under J'onn's supervision had not been in vain, but with guns in between, she had no chance. she felt admiration for this ability.  
"Danvers, do you want to compete?" Maggie demanded when she saw Alex approaching her.  
"For you to wipe the floor with me like the last time?" she asked with a twist of her lips.  
"And for us to play something that I could win? yes," she joked. receiving Alex with a warm kiss on the lips. "Are you trying to distract me?"  
"Would I have a chance if I distracted you?" Said Alex.  
"None, dear, we both know that," cried Maggie affectionately. turning to the target, which showed numerous holes in the head and chest area of the body. “I know you're worried about the condition of my leg, but my hands are fine, and my aim is intact.”  
she loaded the pistol, aimed and fired repeatedly, widening the hole she had already created in the center of the head. Alex did not reply, it was more than clear that her words were not just baseless blunders.  
"How go goes the investigation?" Maggie broke the silence.  
"Kara's blood shows significant changes compared to when she was fine," Alex explained, "whatever it was that affected her did it internally, Winn is now monitoring her.”  
Maggie noticed Alex's gloom and offered her the pistol.  
"Come on, Danvers, I'll give you an advantage, you'll shoot three more shots than I do," she said, "whoever wins will give the other one a body massage," she suggested with a mischievous grin.  
“You’re really cheeky today”  
"even with the advantage I just gave you?" Maggie smiled, showing the tip of her tongue between her teeth.  
"don’t you smile at me like that," Alex said, picking up her gun and looking for a new magazine.  
XXXXXX

 

"Winn, how good to see you!" exclaimed Kara "I thought you'd forgotten about me."  
"No, I haven’t forgotten you.” Winn replied  
"And to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?" she asked, smiling sideways.  
"I'm just checking the readings of your results," Winn said.  
"That won’t fix anything, why won’t you guys let it be?"  
"We're not going to give up on you, Kara," he said seriously.  
"Oh, you humor me, Winn," she teased, "but what I need is not analysis or stupid readings of my results.”  
"We're helping you, Kara” Winn insisted on calling her by her name, as if that might keep his little friend from disappearing. But Kara ignored his words.  
"If you get me out of here, I'll do you a favor ... What would you think if I make Mon-El disappear? Lucy would be free so you could conquer her”  
"That would be horrible," Winn said in disgust.  
"And you still wonder why women like Lucy or Lena do not notice you? You're short of guts, Winn Schott Jr”  
Kara knew where exactly to hit each of the people in her life to do the most damage, and Winn was no exception.  
"You don’t really mean that," he mumbled.  
"I bet you I do," Kara said, putting her hands on the reinforced glass in her cell. “Women do not like weak and cowardly men like you, Winn, why do you think I didn’t give you the time of day?  
Winn clenched her teeth. His taut jaw made Kara laugh.  
"Quickly finish those useless readings and get out," she spat " your pathetic presence bothers me.”  
With that said, she turned her back on him and lay back down on the bench in the back of the cell.  
XXXXXX

 

Later that afternoon, Kara was organizing the clothes she had taken from the apartment of the Kara of that world, she had to choose what she would wear the next day to return to CatCo as a reporter. Lena knocked on her door and Kara turned to her.  
"I've been thinking about it, Kara, and I'd prefer you not to wear my girlfriend's clothes," she said seriously. "I'll buy you whatever you need, don’t worry about it.  
"I understand, but I don’t want you to spend money ..."  
"Forget about that, I have enough money to renovate a wardrobe several times over," said the young CEO, "it's not that I boast about it, it's just the truth, and for me it's important, that's why I told you”  
"Okay, Lena," Kara agreed, "but I don’t want to bother you anymore. I'll tell Alex to come shopping with me”  
"Okay, I told the clerks to load everything on my account.”  
“Thank you”  
When Lena left the room, Kara stopped smiling. Her request was most logical, it would be difficult to have her swarming around with her girlfriends look, especially her clothing.   
Lena was thinking about it, too.  
"I'm sorry, Kara, after what happened to me this morning, the last thing I need is to see you in her clothes to torture my memories even more," she told herself  
XXXXXX

 

"You let yourself lose?" Alex whispered as she felt Maggie's hands trailing along her bare back.  
"Your point is?" Maggie, who was sitting on the back of her girlfriend. "You needed this massage, did you not?"  
"Of course," Alex admitted. "I needed it a lot”  
She couldn’t restrain herself letting out a soft moan at her bride's caress. Maggie smiled and bent over her to place small kisses on her skin. Alex sighed with closed eyes. She was planning on giving Maggie a massage in return, but given the events, maybe that massage would have to wait.

Suddenly her cell phone rang, startling her. Maggie raised her head and saw that it was Kara-38, as they called her between them to clarify.  
"Come on, take it, it might be important," Maggie said with some annoyance, getting off her girlfriend.  
Alex sat up in bed, caressing Maggie in the stomach when she had her sitting next to her, and picked up the phone.  
"Kara?"  
"Alex, I'm sorry to call you at this hour, but I need you to do me a favor"  
"I'm sorry too, little Danvers!"  
"Is that Maggie?" Kara asked in surprise.  
“Yes”  
"Did I interrupt something? I'm so sorry” Kara said with remorse.  
"Okay, Maggie was just kidding." Alex gave Maggie a forceful whack on her arm, making her laugh. "What's the matter?  
“I need to buy new clothes and I would like you to accompany me, as there are different things about my world, I do not want to mess with anything”  
"True, you told me that some buildings are different or they are in different places. We'll have to hurry, because it's late, are we picking you up at Lena's or ...? Kara did not give her time to finish the sentence.  
"I'm here ... on your balcony!" Kara answered from the apartment Alex and Maggie shared.  
"Fucking Supergirl ..." cried Maggie, looking for her shirt. Alex shrugged with a smile.  
"Are you coming with us?"  
"I don’t want to slow you down, and as you told Kara, it's late, stores will close soon enough”  
"Okay, but when I get back, we'll finish what you started-"  
Alex walked over and kissed her lips.  
"My massage?" She exclaimed excitedly.  
"Mine was not over yet! “Alex exclaimed "So long, Sawyer."  
Alex smiled at her, but her expression changed as she left the bedroom. If Maggie was not suffering from her sister's attack, she would not have hesitated to accompany them.  
“All good?” Kara asked when she saw her pensive face.  
"Yes, everything’s all right, shall we?"  
Kara nodded, already dressed in street clothes, and together they left the apartment.  
XXXXXX

 

"I think I'll have enough for a couple of weeks," Kara announced when she saw Lena enter the room.  
"Fine, and if you need more, do not hesitate to buy it," Lena said. Kara nodded with a small smile.  
Lena was about to leave but she turned on her heel and walked to Kara. she took her hand, catching her attention.  
"Thank you, Kara, this is something I really needed”  
"I know, Lena”  
“Goodnight” Lena stood on tiptoe, without heels, Kara was a few inches taller, and kissed her cheek.  
“... night ..." Kara managed, then stared at the doorway through which Lena had disappeared.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks a lot Catarina and Miss Healey for your help!

The clock had barely struck six-thirty in the morning and Kara was already getting out of bed, she did not want to be late for CatCo on the day of her return as Kara Danvers of Earth-40. She took a shower to clear her mind and calm her nerves. Lena Luthor never got up before seven, but on that Thursday made an exception. She was aware of the compromised situation Kara was in and wanted to wish her luck before she left.  
Lena walked to the door of Kara's room, and opened it slowly in case she had not yet awakened and peered in, looking for her. And she did. Kara had her back to her, focusing her attention on the clothes she had sprawled on the bed. Everything would have gone perfectly had Kara not been wearing only a towel around her wet body, while she dried her hair energetically with a smaller one. The Kryptonian was so concerned about her choice of clothes that she did not notice Lena's presence. That scene paralyzed her. She could not take a step further, she stayed transfixed in the doorway, but she could not stop looking.

Her green eyes roamed over her neck and what remained visible of her legs. She swallowed. Kara entered the bathroom, it was the perfect time for Lena to let her know she was there, but again she was unable to do anything but stand there, longing to see more. After two minutes, Kara returned to the bedroom, this time, her body was barely covered by a simple set of blue underwear. Lena felt her cheeks burning and a relentless need settled between her thighs as she stared at the athletic body of Kara, who, still oblivious to her presence, was about to get dressed. At last, Lena reacted and turned quickly, feeling ashamed to behave like a horny teenage girl. Especially because that Kara was not her Kara, and she felt guilty for invading her privacy. She walked quickly to the kitchen, she needed a cold drink.  
Ten minutes later, Kara entered the kitchen for breakfast, but no one was there. She went to the fridge and something caught her attention. It was a yellow paper, attached to the metal door with a small magnet. It had something written on it. 

"Good morning, Kara. Surely you've gotten up before me, I hope you've rested well. Help yourself to anything you want, and have a good day. I’m sure that all will be well in CatCo. Cheer up, Girl of Steel. See you later. Lena."   
"What a sweet gesture." Kara smiled and slipped the paper into the pocket in her pants.  
Lena had stopped hearing noises, and knew that Kara was no longer in her apartment. It was a few minutes past seven and decided that it was time to get out of bed. She undressed slowly and slipped into the shower, feeling the hot water running down her neck, shoulders, back, legs...She kept her eyes closed. She wanted to relax, but her mind had other plans for her.

She had both her hands on the wall and had her head down when she heard the noise of the screen door slide, and soon she felt Kara’s hand around her waist, her breasts sticking to her back and her hips against her backside.   
“Kara..." She whispered, "I have a meeting first thing in the morning.”   
"So?" Kara whispered as she kissed her neck. "You're the boss, they won’t start without you."   
Lena threw her head back, searching for her girlfriend's lips. They kissed under the curtain of water, their breaths quickening.   
"They’re waiting for you...At the DEO...Alex is going to kill you," Lena managed to say.   
"She’ll forgive me eventually...She loves me a lot," Kara said just before one of her hands grabbed a breast, making Lena moan.   
"And Mr. Carr...Does he love you too?" Lena reminded her." She moaned again, Kara continued stroking her body. "You owe him an article."  
"Right now, I couldn’t care less about Carr.” Kara's hand slipped between Lena's legs, and she gasped at once. “And I believe you think the same about your meeting.”  
A greenish glow made her look between her thighs. She smiled. Kara was wearing the kryptonite bracelets. She had not interrupted her shower to share only a few caresses, she wanted to make love to her, and Lena surrendered to her hopelessly. When Kara's fingers invaded her body, Lena let out a sharp groan. Then they began to move together, softly, to the rhythm that Kara imposed with her hand. She liked to enjoy the trip before arriving at her destination.   
"Tell me...Why do I like you so much?" Kara whispered in her ear in a huskier voice than usual. Lena shuddered and bit her lower lip.   
Her groans grew more and more intense, and Kara increased the speed and pressure of her fingers as her free hand ran through her breasts, stomach and waist. Lena was about to reach her orgasm, Kara knew her body well. She kissed her on the cheek and enjoyed her spasms of pleasure.   
"I love you, Lena..." she whispered against her neck.  
Lena tried to catch her breath after her climax. It was the first time she had touched herself in the past two months, but it had been the saddest orgasm of her life. The water in the shower kept sliding over her skin, accompanying her silent tears.   
"Kara..." she stammered in a trembling voice.  
Wrapped in a robe, Lena entered the kitchen for coffee. There, she saw a paper on the table. She picked it up and recognized Kara's handwriting.   
"Thank you very much for the encouragement, I think I’ll need it. Cat Grant is both as fantastic as she is intimidating. Have a good day at L-Corp, see you later. Kara."   
She felt like crying for a second time that morning, but struggled to contain the tears. She had a company to run.   
XXXXXX

Winn had assured her that she had nothing to worry about, that James would let her know about everything, because he worked at CatCo as a photographer. So the first thing that Kara did when entering the building was to look for the office of James Olsen. He received her with a smile, and told her everything he thought Kara should know so as to not raise suspicions about her identity. 

"Darling, what do you think if this afternoon we go to...?" Eve entered the office and stopped talking as she saw Kara sitting on a chair.   
"Kara, you're back! I'm glad you're better." She bent to kiss her on the cheek. Well, we'll talk later, when...You’re not busy. Bye Kara.”   
Eve waved her hand and left the office.   
"Eve and you...?" Kara asked, frowning. James smiled.   
"Yes...But it’s not been long, just two weeks.”   
"I'm so glad for the both of you," Kara said, "and now I'm going to see the Snapper Carr of this world. Oh Rao, I hope he’s not too much like mine."   
"Calm down, you can do it... And you know, anything you need, you can count on me.   
"Thank you, James." She shook his hand with affection. He was just as charming and as good a friend as her James.  
On the way to Carr's office, Kara met Cat Grant.   
"Kerah...I see that you have recovered from your surgery," she said, staring at her. That woman would never cease to intimidate her. And she had taken to call her Kerah again, or maybe she had not stopped doing it on this Earth. Whatever it was, she absolutely needed Cat not to know she was not the Kara she knew, but she was very concerned about her insight. It was not easy to fool her on her own world, and it wasn’t likely it would be on this one.   
"Thank you, Miss Grant," she said quickly, "I am much better.”   
"Good to hear, and now go see Carr and help me sell copies of CatCo magazine, chop-chop.” Kara nodded and smiled quickly.

The meeting with Snapper Carr went as she feared and worse.   
"I know you're Cat Grant’s spoiled girl," she said.   
“Excuse me?”   
"But I'm not going to grant you any privileges. It was very unprofessional of you not to give and advanced notice of your surgery, ponytail." Kara wrinkled her nose at that nickname, the same used by the Carr of her world. “Another one like that and I'll do my best to fire you.”   
"It won’t happen again."   
“If I give you another chance, it's because of your contacts.”   
"My contacts?"  
"Even though you're nothing sort of special as a reporter, you know Supergirl and Lena Luthor, National City's most famous couple, and that's always a plus."   
“Oh.”   
"But we've had enough sugar with Cat's report. I want an article about the city's caretakers in Supergirl's absence, we're not alone without her."   
"I see you're not a fan of Supergirl."   
"I don’t like people who disappear without a warning," said Carr. "Looks like the two of you have that in common."   
She didn’t say anything else, but looked down and went on with what she was doing. Definitely, in no world would she get along with that man, but that would not prevent her from doing her job as a reporter. On the other hand, contacting those who had taken care of National City in the absence of Supergirl wouldn’t be complicated; a visit to the DEO would suffice.   
XXXXXX

EARTH-38   
Alex stole glances at her mobile phone frequently. Maggie noticed, and it was starting to annoy her.   
"I feel like you're somewhere else," Maggie said, breaking the silence.   
“Huh?” Alex looked at her.   
"We haven’t been going out for two weeks and you don’t pay any attention to me anymore," she said sadly. "I was hoping for something else after the night we spent in your apartment.”   
"Sorry, Maggie, I just...I'm waiting for a DEO call, I have a pretty complicated case in my hands."   
"If you can’t stay, just tell me, it’s all right."   
"I wanted to see you." Alex took Maggie's hand. “I'm not having a good time, it's the DEO case and...Kara's absence," she admitted.   
"But Kara is out of the country for work, isn’t she? She'll be back soon," Maggie said.   
"Yes, of course," Alex lied. That was the story they had told everyone. “But it’s the first time I have spent so long without seeing her, and it is harder than I thought, we’re very close.” She smiled mildly.   
"You'll see, before you know it, Kara is back and that case you have will be solved." Maggie's tone sounded like a caress. “You know that if I can help in any way, you just have to ask me.”   
Alex rose from her chair and pulled Maggie to her body. She hugged her tightly.   
"Thank you, Maggie..." She buried her face in her neck. "And forgive me for being like this.” Alex leaned back to look at Maggie's eyes, those dark, deep eyes as the night she loved so.   
"When you're upset, I want you to share it with me, Alex, that's what couples do.”   
"I'm sorry, it's just... I've never been with anyone like this before. Everything is new to me.”   
Maggie merely smiled tenderly, tilting her head a little. Then she interlaced her fingers with Alex's and they left the bar. They said goodbye with a kiss on the lips and each one got on their motorcycle.

Alex started and walked away with a bittersweet feeling inside. She should feel immensely happy, the girl she loved so much had told her she felt the same way she did, and they were dating. However, Kara's absence clouded everything. Ten days had passed since her sister had told her she had to travel to Earth-1 to help Barry and her friends. Ten days of silence, ten days without receiving any signs of Kara's life. She kept wondering why she had not yet communicated with her, if everything had gone well, or badly, if she had been hurt, if she could not return to her world...If she was dead. Alex gritted her teeth at the thought. The uncertainty made her crazy with worry, and the impotence she felt for not being able to do anything about it was killing her.

But Alex Danvers was not the only person in National City to suffer the absence of Kara Danvers and Supergirl. Each night, Lena Luthor went to the balcony of her office in L-Corp to watch the night sky with a single desire, to see Supergirl flying through it. And during the day, she longed to receive Kara's unexpected visits. It was curious that both had disappeared at the same time, very curious indeed.  
At least, Supergirl had dedicated her a "thank you, I'm sorry I doubted you" the night that she betrayed her own mother to save the lives of all the National City aliens. But Kara...She couldn’t deny it, Lena expected something from Kara after what happened with the Medusa virus. A visit to thank her, a call, an invitation to have a cup of coffee, any gesture, whatever, and her absence made her feel confused and sad. After four days, she could not take it anymore and showed up at Kara's house, but no one opened the door. Her attempts to reach her by telephone were in vain, always the same message announcing that the phone was off or out of coverage. She came to think that maybe Kara didn’t want to continue their friendship, and that hurt her. She could not lose her only friend without explanation. What had she done wrong?

She felt a little relieved when she visited CatCo and James told her that Kara was out of the country, covering a story, that she had been in a hurry and they had trouble reaching her by phone. But she needed more information, and two days later she located Agent Danvers and asked for Supergirl. Alex had to tell her that Supergirl was on a mission off the planet, but that she would be back soon.  
Lena was tying up loose ends, she had never believed in coincidences. But what disturbed her the most was the regret she felt at the absence of both women. Why did she miss them so much? Why did she get anxious at the thought of not seeing them again?   
Her gaze was lost in the night lights of the city. She closed her eyes and sighed. Then she opened them and looked up at the sky.   
“Will you come back someday?” She asked bitterly.   
END OF EARTH-38   
XXXXXX

Kara lay on her bed, but she could not sleep. She kept thinking about what had happened in the last few days. She was living the life of another person, and for that, she had deceived an entire city. Besides, she was aware that this farce was not exactly easy for Lena. Her presence gave her conflicting feelings, she knew from the way her heart rate and breathing altered when they were near. But Kara preferred not to comment on this with her so as not to upset her anymore. What she was doing was keeping an eye on her vital signs. So that night, she sensed her disturbed breathing and worried.  
In an instant she slipped into her room, needing to know that she was alright. Lena was sleeping, but she seemed to have some kind of nightmare from the grimace that showed her face. Kara sat on the edge of the bed, doubtful whether to wake her up or do nothing. Her blue eyes filled with her. Despite the bad dream, she found her beautiful with her hair sprawled on the pillow and her fleshy lips slightly apart. Kara's fingers came to her cheek, but then, Lena stirred a little, and spoke between sobs, causing her to withdraw. 

"Kara...Please...No...Don’t go..." Lena moaned, still asleep.   
A tear trickled down her cheek and Kara felt her heart break.   
"Lena...You don’t even get peace in your sleep,” she whispered.   
She wanted to wake her up so she wouldn’t suffer like this, and she took her shoulders gently.   
Lena needed little else, she was wide awake. She opened her moist green eyes, and looked at Kara bewildered.   
"Kara?" She sat up a little, resting on her elbows. "What are you doing here?" She asked in a low voice.   
"I...I heard you...You had a nightmare and...I didn’t know what to do..." she stammered. "I'd better go and let you rest," she added as she made a gesture to get up. But Lena caught her hand.   
"Wait...Stay with me until I fall asleep," she said.   
"Sure," she said.   
Lena was still holding her hand, and she took it to her chest, curling up and closing her eyes to go back to sleep.   
"Thank you, Kara...I used to sleep embracing my girlfriend, it always made me feel safe”.   
Kara could not identify what she felt to hear her words. She could only smile and wish that for the remainder of the night, Lena Luthor could have beautiful dreams.  
 


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks a lot Catarina and Miss Healey for your help!

On Friday morning, the morning primetime show in town issued Cat Grant's interview with Lena Luthor and Supergirl. Kara was watching it from CatCo's office as Cat came up to her.   
"What do you think, Kerah?"   
"It’s a very good interview," she said at once, reaching for her glasses.   
"I didn’t ask about myself, I know I was fantastic," said Cat, "I mean, how do you see them?"   
"Very good, too." Kara did not know what else to say, and didn’t want to screw up.   
"Do they seem to be in love to you?" She insisted.   
"Erm, yeah…?" She answered hesitantly.   
"You're Supergirl’s friend, aren’t you?"   
"Uh...Yes, why do you say that?" She smiled exaggeratedly.   
"Then you know what really happened..." Kara quickly realized where this was heading.   
"Yes, I know," she admitted honestly.   
"Then I’ll ask again: Do the look like they’re in love to you? Do you believe they will deceive the public?"   
"Well...I think so, right? Or maybe...?" Kara spoke nervously. She had not prepared herself mentally for something like this.   
"To me they don’t look like they’re in love" Cat said. "Of course, I've been a journalist for many years, I see things that others do not.”   
“Oh really?” She asked piteously.   
"Although...In a certain way...There does seem to be something, don’t you think?” Cat narrowed her eyes. "Maybe they're not such bad actresses after all."   
Kara swallowed. Cat Grant could be really stubborn.   
"Let's hope it works, but not too much." She pointed without looking at Kara.   
"What do you mean, Miss Grant?" Kara asked worriedly.   
"I hope Supergirl-38 is as honorable as our Supergirl."   
"Forgive me, I don’t follow..." What was she accusing her of?   
"And let’s hope Lena Luthor does not betray her true girlfriend," she added with a slight smile. She ignored Kara's words completely and turned her back on her. "Keep working on your article, Kerah...Don’t get too upset about what I just said.”

Kara gasped, but could not say anything else. What was Cat Grant insinuating? Could she have an affair with Lena Luthor in that world? That would never happen, she had strong principles, she could never bring herself to cross that line. But she knew that it was a harder effort on Lena’s part, even though she didn’t doubt her strong feelings for her own Kara. But she kept hearing Cat's words inside her head: Did she really see a chance that they both might feel something for each other? She shook her head. She shouldn’t think of such things.   
XXXXXX

In the afternoon, Alex went down to the maximum-security cells to review some data. Her sister took the opportunity to speak to her with obvious interest.   
"Big sis…" At the agent's indifference, she raised her voice. "Alex!"   
"I will not tolerate your impertinence today, Kara," Alex said.   
"Is there a new Supergirl in National City?" Alex finally looked at her. “I've heard the agents who guard me say that an interview of Lena Luthor and Supergirl made by Cat Grant has aired, and that everything went very well. What the hell is going on while I rot in here?”   
"That's none of your business.” Alex tried to get on with her job, but Kara was not going to let go easily.   
"Yes it is: A Supergirl from another Earth is taking my place!" She exclaimed, her eyes burning with fury. "Because she’s from another Earth, right? Have you replaced me?"   
"In any case, we've replaced the Supergirl that no longer exists," Alex said.   
"And where does she live? With Lena? Does she also pretend to be her girlfriend?!”   
"Do you care now?" Alex turned to face her.   
"Of course I care, Lena is mine!" She bellowed, placing her hands on the glass of her cell with a loud thump.   
"I came to think that you still cared for her, and it is only your hunger to possess... There really is nothing left of my sister in you," she murmured in disappointment.   
"You did not answer me, Alex!" Kara insisted.   
“I’m not going to.”   
"All right, then bring Lena here, I want to see her." Kara softened her tone.   
“Don’t even dream about it.”   
“She’s my girlfriend! Tell Lena I need to see her!"   
But Alex turned her back on her.   
"I'm not going to do that, I do not want you to hurt her anymore," she said. “Bye, Kara.”   
“Alex, damn it, Alex!” Kara shouted as she hit the glass.

Alex Danvers did not feel much sympathy for Lena Luthor when she met her. She distrusted her, like almost everyone did, because of her family name. But time and the actions of the young CEO showed that her sister Kara was right, that Lena was a good person and just wanted to do good, just like them. When Kara told her that she was falling in love with Lena, Alex could not be happier and supported them from the very first moment. By becoming her sister's girlfriend, Alex and Lena had shared more time together, and had come to know each other on a more personal level. She smiled as she remembered how, when the four of them hanged out, Lena and she would begin endless scientific discussions as Kara and Maggie stared at them, with expressions of clearly don’t understanding a thing, until they finally gave up sat on the couch to share a few beers. How she missed those times.   
XXXXXX

Kara-40 was not the only one surprised when the interview aired. When Jess announced a visit from Lillian Luthor, Lena sighed in resignation. She’d been waiting for news from her since she appeared on TV. It was not that they had the best mother-daughter relationship, but still she was her mother, and so she wanted to consider her, even when she had never received true love from her.   
"You did not tell me that Supergirl had recovered!" Lillian exclaimed, closing the door behind her.   
"Good afternoon to you too, Mother.”   
Lena gestured to invite her to sit down. Lillian took off her coat quickly and took a chair without taking her icy eyes from her daughter.   
“So?” She insisted. Lena took a deep breath.   
"No, Mom, Kara has not recovered.”   
"Well, I found her very...Normal," Lillian said, narrowing her eyes. Then she opened them suddenly. "Who was she? Was it the shape-shifting Martian?”  
"It was Kara." Lillian's stunned expression made her keep talking. "It's complicated.”   
"And I'm sure I have enough intelligence to understand it, so go ahead."

Lena brought her up to date on the latest events, just as she did when she began her relationship with Kara a year ago. Lillian was not at all happy about her daughter's relationship; she tried to make her change her mind. Like her son Lex, she thought that aliens were unreliable, that they were all a potential danger. But she finally resigned herself, knowing too well the stubbornness of her daughter. 

"And who’s to say this new Supergirl will not go crazy like the other one did? I would not feel safe around her," Lillian stated.   
"Fortunately for you, I'm the one who pretends to be her girlfriend, not you."   
"I thought all this would make you rethink your position toward the aliens."   
"Thank you, Mother, for your unconditional support," Lena said wearily.   
"Just try to open your eyes and realize your mistake," Lillian insisted, "If the best of them can become that, what won’t the rest do?" She frowned and shook her head.   
"I like it better when you pretend to accept my partner and we do not talk about it.”   
"Yes, it's the best course of action; I feel like I'm talking to a stone that cannot see reason," Lillian exclaimed. "I do not know what Supergirl did to you, she has you completely...Under her spell," she said with contempt.   
"In love, Mom, the word you're looking for is in love," Lena thought.   
“Well, if you have nothing else to tell me, I have a lot of work to do.”   
"I'll be leaving now and let you work, at least you're good at business..." Lillian got up, picked up her coat, and walked to the door of the office. "You're a complete disappointment in other areas," she said loudly enough for her daughter to hear.  
Lena closed her eyes and leaned back in her chair, taking several deep breaths. Seeing her mother always left her depressed. Whatever she did, it was never enough for her. Lillian had the virtue of making her feel small. She always had some reproach or correction to make, and never with affection or delicacy. Not even three minutes had passed when she heard the sound of her cell phone. 

“Now what?”  
When she read the message, her expression changed completely;, she could not stop smiling.   
"Hi Lena, how's been your day at L-Corp? Mine at CatCo has been terrible. I've had to redo an article that I was supposed to have already written because I haven’t been able to locate it, Carr has not been amused by the delay.” Lena laughed “and Cat Grant has been keeping an eye on me all day, it’s like she doesn’t trust the way I do my job, or who I am, or whatever...I'm going to order Chinese food for dinner, I need it, I hope you don’t mind. Or if you want, we can order more food, it won’t be a problem for me.”  
Lena laughed again. "See you later."

The day ended much better than it had started for both. They shared the Chinese food, Kara filled her plate several times, under the amused look of Lena. They chatted animatedly, and Kara told her a few anecdotes of her life on Earth-38, delighted to see Lena laugh earnestly after several days of barely contained sadness. Lena also related some fun moments, proving that she was not all seriousness and work.   
"You're a wonderful company, Kara," Lena said suddenly. "I needed this today.”   
"What, eating healthy food like Chinese food?" She teased and Lena giggled. "I needed it, too," she added softly. They dedicated to each other smiles in silence.   
"And now let's go to sleep, I have to work tomorrow, and later at night we have the gala," Lena announced.   
"It's true, our first public appearance since I've been here," Kara said a little uneasily.   
"You'll do great." Lena placed her hand over Kara's, "but even super girls need to sleep, so ..."   
Lena got up from the couch and pulled at Kara’s hand, who also stood. Then Kara looked at their joined hands and took the one that she had free to her glasses; Lena released her quickly.   
"See you tomorrow, Lena," Kara said, and walked away from her.   
"Good night, Kara-"   
Lena lifted her arm a little, as if to keep her by her side, but did not say a word. That Kara was not her girlfriend, she should not forget it.   
XXXXXX

Lena received an unexpected visit from Cat Grant at L-Corp on Saturday morning. After greeting her with a firm handshake, she went straight to the point, she did not like to waste time.   
"I hope you know what you're doing," she said.   
"I do not follow, Cat.”   
"With Supergirl-38...You two are pretty close," Cat said. “I would not want to lose my respect for you that you earned so well.”   
"What are you implying?" Lena asked indignantly, feeling attacked.   
"I understand you two have to fake things to the best of your abilities, but... I hope you do not lose sight of the fact that it's a farce," Cat explained. Lena smiled sideways.   
"So you came here to remind me that I must remain loyal to my girlfriend." Cat looked up at her. "At least you care that our relationship won’t deteriorate," she added, remembering her mother's opinion.   
"Lena...I cannot imagine how bizarre and difficult this must be for you," Cat said with sympathy, "but you must be strong for the sake of all three of you.”   
Cat had included the new Kara and Lena understood perfectly why.   
"Cat, you know me ...”   
"Yes, that's why I know anything can happen even if you don’t mean for it to. I know you love our Supergirl, but who knows what the new Supergirl can feel for you?”   
"Supergirl-38 is an honest woman, and she's got things very clear," Lena said.   
“No doubt, but when it comes to feelings, everything becomes unpredictable and uncontrollable...However, there are lines that should not be crossed, because the consequences would be devastating for everyone involved” said Cat.   
“Trust me, Cat, not a single day goes by that I don’t think of that.” Lena assured her.   
"I'm sorry I came to tell you this, Lena, you know I do it because I appreciate you; Supergirl and you," Cat said as she got up.   
“I know, thanks.” She held out her hand to her, Cat shook it affectionately and gave her a smile.   
XXXXXX

Kara and Lena visited the DEO after lunch. Alex wanted to discuss some things with Kara and J'onn with Lena.   
"Hello Alex," Kara greeted.   
"Hi Kara, come on in," the agent said as she spread some papers on her laboratory table. "You see, your blood sample gives the same results as my sister's sample when she was fine.”   
"So I didn’t do anything that could help," Kara said sadly.   
"It's not your fault, or anyone else's," exclaimed Maggie, who was crossing the door with her crutches.   
"How are you, Maggie?" Kara asked. The detective kissed Alex on the lips and looked at Kara.   
"I'm fine, waiting to start rehab." Maggie had wrapped her arms around Alex's neck. "I'm still going to give this woman a lot of trouble," she teased. Alex blushed a little and Kara could not help but laugh.

Lena had not gotten into J'onn J'onzz's office because she had changed her route, heading downstairs where her girlfriend was held. She had not told anyone, because she knew they would have stopped her, but she had to see her, especially after the conversation with Cat Grant.   
"Good afternoon, Miss Luthor," greeted the DEO agent guarding the cell.   
"Good afternoon, can you leave us alone?"   
The man nodded and left. Kara leapt off the bed and went to the glass.   
"Lena! Did Alex tell you to come?" She asked in surprise.   
"No," Lena said in surprise. "I came because I wanted to see you.”   
Kara stared at her in silence for a few seconds.   
"You're just as beautiful as ever..." Her blue eyes danced between Lena's green gaze and her red lips.   
“Kara ...” Lena rested her hands on the glass. “Please, become who you were before again, you promised that you would always come back to me...I...I need you..." she whispered, holding back her tears.   
"Lena…" For a moment, Lena thought she saw the purity in her eyes again. But before she could say or do anything, the blue sky darkened again, like her soul. "Are you sure you need me? I thought you had already replaced me.”   
“What?” She whispered, still recovering from the previous moment.   
Kara placed her hands on the glass, abruptly so, startling Lena.   
"I know about the new Supergirl. She’s living with you, right?”   
“Kara...That...” Lena backed a couple of steps.   
"I suppose you pretend to be a couple so everything stays the same as before, except without me."   
"We do it for the city’s sake..." Lena's voice was barely audible. She was not ready to talk about it with her.   
"And is my substitute doing well?" She did not let Lena answer “Do you fly together? Does she hold your hand in public? Does she sleep with you?!” Kara asked, raising her voice more and more.   
"No, she does not sleep with me!" Cried Lena.   
"And how long will it take?" She asked wickedly.   
"Kara, please..." Lena said. "This is very difficult for everyone.”   
“And not for me?!” Kara shouted. "I've been locked up inside this damn cell for over two months!"   
"I want to get you out, but-“   
"Get me out!"   
"I can’t." She lowered her eyes. “You are too dangerous.”   
"And I have to stay here while some other woman takes my place even in your bed?"   
“It’s not like that!” Cried Lena.   
"If I were her, I wouldn’t hesitate to take advantage of the situation...I like you too much, Lena Luthor.”   
Although her voice sounded perverse, her words managed to upset Lena more than she would have liked.   
"She would never do that, because she is like you before you lost your mind," she said, inconsolable.   
She turned back to the glass. She could no longer contain them, the tears streamed down her cheeks.   
"Keep your promise, please...Come back to me," she sobbed.

"Where's Lena?" Winn asked.   
"With J'onn," Alex said.   
"No, she's not with her, J'onn is still waiting for her in his office."   
"How strange, we came together," Kara pointed out.   
‘Shit!” Alex cursed. "She went down to see my sister!"   
"Please," Maggie begged Kara, who took her in her arms and ran beside Alex to the elevator.  
"How could you agree to something like that, Lena?" Kara yelled without restraint.   
"Kara, please." Lena's voice was barely a whisper. She was still crying.   
"Get me out of here, I’ll kick back that damn usurper to her own Earth!"   
The voices reached them as they emerged from the elevator. Kara made a move to accompany them, but Maggie asked her to wait there.   
"Lena, you shouldn’t have come down here!" Cried Alex, who had already reached the cell.   
"I'm sorry...I just wanted to see her..." she stammered. Alex took her shoulders to get her away.   
“I know. I should have told you that she knew about Kara-38, come on.”   
"Don’t treat her with such consideration, she's delighted with the new Supergirl!" Kara accused.   
"Stop it, Kara!” Alex shouted. 

"I'm sorry, big sister, you're too late." She gave her a look of hate. "I made her cry. You’ve failed again," she said cruelly.   
Alex gritted her teeth. Lena closed her eyes. And then there was Maggie's voice.  
"Don’t you get tired of always using the same sentences, Kara?" The detective asked, surprising them all. "Get Lena out of here," she said to Alex.   
Kara smiled with satisfaction. She had not seen Maggie Sawyer in a long time.   
“There’s a family reunion today and you didn’t tell me? Did my substitute also come? I want to see her face!”   
"Kara has more important things to do than come down and see you," Maggie said, smiling. Kara smiled too.   
"I know she’s here, I can feel it... But I'll have to settle for you. I really missed you, to be honest," Kara admitted.   
"I'm not allowed to invite you to have some beers, sorry," Maggie teased. That made her laugh.  
"You're the only one who doesn’t seem to break down when you talk to me. I like that," Kara confessed.   
"Maybe it's because I'm the least emotionally attached to you," Maggie said calmly, “Something good had to come out of this.”   
"And how is your leg?" Kara had softened the tone, but the look on her face did not convey how little she cared about her injury.   
"I can still walk," Maggie explained, showing her the crutches.   
"You're tough, Maggie Sawyer, but your bones are as fragile as any other human being; what a pity.”   
Maggie knew that the conversation was over, and Kara had ended it with a clear threat. If she ever managed to free herself from her confinement, the Kryptonian would not hesitate to kill her.

“What happened?” Kara asked visibly worried when she saw them approaching.   
"My sister knows you're here, taking her place," Alex announced. Kara swallowed. It was obvious she had not taken it well.   
"Lena, please don’t come back again without telling me before," Alex pleaded.   
"I won’t..." she whispered as she put her hand to her eyes to wipe away the tears. She didn’t want Kara to see her like this. Alex hugged her tightly.   
It was a shocking sight to Kara. It was one thing to watch her hug and kiss Maggie. In her world, her sister also liked Maggie; it wasn’t surprising. It was very different thing to see her having those affectionate gestures with Lena Luthor, when in her world they had barely exchanged two sentences the day Lena burst into her apartment without warning. Their complicity made her think that perhaps Alex had grown very fond of Lena since she'd started her relationship with Kara. Alex was always very protective of the people who she cared for. Maggie's appearance took her out of her thoughts.   
"Maggie!" Alex exclaimed when she saw her. "Thank you for your help."   
Alex framed her face with her hands and kissed her intensely.   
"You know I'm here for whatever you need, Danvers," Maggie said, "especially with rewards like this," she said, smiling and hugging Alex's waist, who kissed her tenderly on her head. 

Maggie had the ability to calm down people whenever she was present. They all seemed more relaxed.   
"You have a gala tonight to attend, don’t you?" Alex asked.   
"Yes," Lena replied weakly.   
The last thing Lena wanted was to show herself to the audience with a smile, as if her life was wonderful, when in reality she just wanted to cry and curse for losing the person she loved most.   
"Kara, take Lena home and rest for a while," Alex suggested. "Maggie and I will stay in the DEO, no matter what happens."   
"But J'onn wanted to talk to me."   
"Calm down, I'll tell him what's happened, he'll understand, and if it's something important, I'll call you."   
“Thanks Alex.”  
Kara and Lena walked silently to the helipad.   
"Do you want us to fly?" Kara offered.   
"No, I'd rather go in my helicopter, I'm sorry.”   
Kara sighed in resignation. Only a few hours ago they had shared laughter and potstickers, getting to know a more relaxed and personal side of Lena, and now she felt farther away from her than ever. It hurt, especially because Lena had been hurt again.   
XXXXXX

Kara flew around the center of National City until she knew Lena had come home. Then she went to one of the terraces of the attic and crossed the open door. She dressed in street clothes and entered the living room, where Lena received her. "Kara   
...”   
"Hello Lena," Kara greeted back with a shy smile, touching her glasses.   
"I'm sorry about before," Lena said. "The meeting with my girlfriend left me too upset.”   
"I know, Lena, you don’t have to apologize," Kara said quickly.   
"I didn’t want you to see me like this, I'm a little embarrassed," Lena confessed, her cheeks flushed and averting her gaze. Kara stared at her in silence for a few seconds.   
"How beautiful she is when she blushes," she thought.   
"Please don’t feel bad about that, we all have our weaknesses." Lena frowned at her. "Our low moments." She touched her glasses and smiled.   
"It's true," Lena said with a smile. “But we have to keep going, and tonight they're waiting for us at the gala sponsored by L-Corp, "she added as she walked to her room.   
"Yes," Kara said proudly, watching Lena recover. She was immensely glad that their relationship had not been marred by what had transpired that afternoon.   
"Will you help me choose the dress?" Lena asked, turning to her from the corridor.   
“Huh?” She stammered. “Yeah, sure.”  
"Well, are you planning to see them from here with your X-rays?" Lena teased.   
"No, of course not, I mean sure..." Kara gasped and finished her words with a laugh that ended up infecting Lena.   
"Rao help us both tonight," Kara implored.  
 


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks a lot Catarina and Miss Healey for your help!

Kara stopped at the door that led to Lena’s dressing room. When Lena opened one of the cabinets, Kara was surprised. Not only were there dresses, but also shirts and pants that were familiar to her. The young CEO roamed her fingers over some clothes with obvious longing. Kara watched her holding her breath; she knew that those clothes belonged to her alter-ego. Lena shook her head slightly out of the trance and focused on her evening dresses.   
"What do you think of this one?" She showed her a red dress, “And this one?" Now she was holding up a black one with a few details in white.   
"They're...Both of them are pretty," Kara cleared her throat.   
"This dress I love absolutely..." Lena stated, putting a midnight blue garment in front of her body. Kara imagined her dressed in it. Lena lifted her left eyebrow, urging her to speak again.   
"It's very nice, too," she managed to say, reaching for her glasses.   
"I don’t think you're going to help me much," Lena teased. Kara smiled shyly and pulled her blue eyes away from her.  
Lena took a moment to look at several dresses, taking them to the full-length mirror of the dressing room and looking at herself with them. Kara looked at her carefully; she had no need to pretend since the occasion allowed it. And she thought that Lena Luthor was a beautiful woman, elegant and attractive, very attractive.   
"I think I'll wear the dark blue one."   
"It’ll suit you," Kara observed on an impulse. Lena looked at her, smiling.   
"Thank you, Kara. Can you leave the room?”   
“Why?” She asked, confused.   
"Because I have to take a shower and get dressed. You don’t want me to do it with you here, do you?"   
"Of course, sorry, I'm leaving!" She answered hurriedly with a wide smile.   
Lena followed her gaze until she left her alone, and could not help but smile. Demure Kara was so adorable. She felt a prick of longing in her chest, but she took a deep breath and returned her full attention to what she had to do.  
Kara reached the living room of the apartment and began to walk without a clear direction. She could not stand still. That night was very important; the people who would attend the gala had to believe that Lena and she were girlfriends. The theory had been clear for days, but the recent developments worried her. Cat Grant's words echoed in her mind, "I hope Supergirl-38 is as honorable as our Supergirl." Of course she had honor, no matter how exceedingly attractive and charming Lena was.   
"Kara, can you come for a moment?" She heard Lena's voice from her room.   
"Yes, Lena..." Kara answered peering through the door.   
"You come in handy since you’re here, can you help me?" Lena pointed to the upmost buttons on the collar of her dress as she pushed her dark mane aside.   
Kara swallowed. The dress matched her silhouette like a second skin, highlighting her feminine curves. And her back was quite exposed because she had not yet zipped up her dress. It made it very clear that she was not wearing a bra and Kara's heart began to beat faster. Luckily, Lena did not possess her Kryptonian powers, she could only see her flushed cheeks.  
Kara came up to her, hesitating a little. Had been able to choose, she would not be there helping her with the damned dress. Not if that meant reacting that way and feeling guilty about it. Lena was not doing anything special, but that was the problem, she didn’t need to put any effort into it, her capacity for seduction seemed to be a natural quality in her. Kara tried to be as quick as possible. As if the sight wasn’t already enough, the warmth of the skin beneath her fingertips and the smell of Lena’s perfume were added to the torment her senses were being subjected to. Everything about Lena Luthor attracted her, absolutely everything; it was going to be very easy to be stuck to her during the night. But, how would she be able to get away from her later?  
"Thanks, now there’s only the hairstyle and make-up left," Lena said. "Mary should arrive shortly."   
"Mary?" Kara asked.   
“My secret weapon when I need to get ready. You didn’t believe I pulled off those styles myself, did you?” She laughed.   
"Of course, that makes sense," she said, laughing exaggeratedly.   
“What are you waiting for?”  
“Mm?”   
"When Mary arrives, we’ll need her to see Supergirl here, not Kara Danvers.”   
“Of course, that’s only logic!” Kara raised her hand to her glasses nervously. She felt very foolish for a while.   
Lena barely had the time to blink once. Supergirl was right before her eyes.   
"That speed of yours, I could use it when I need to get ready!" She joked. Kara smiled and folded her arms in front of her chest in one of her classic poses.   
"You're perfect," Lena admitted with admiration.   
“Thank you.”  
The doorbell rang and Lena opened the front door. Half an hour later, Mary left and the couple prepared to do the same. Lena wore an elegant updo and her green eyes were highlighted with black makeup. She decided that it was better to go with her limo, to keep the wind from spoiling Mary's work.  
Kara was nervous; she was not good at lying. Lena felt her nervousness and rested her hand over Kara's. The Kryptonian turned to face her in the car seat.   
"It will be all right, you'll see."   
Then Lena laced her fingers a little with Kara's, and their heartbeats quickened. But Lena knew how to mask the response of her body to that contact with the situation they were about to live.   
"I'm a little nervous, too, but we should be fine. We did well in the interview, and tonight we’ll do the same.”   
She gave her a friendly smile and released her hand; Kara took a breath and looked ahead.  
As soon as they arrived at the place of the gala, many people approached them to greet them with enthusiasm. It was more than obvious that National City was glad to see them together again. Lena did not want to bother Kara anymore; she had realized what it took the Kryptonian to help her with the dress and have her so close, so she was patient and respectful and just just walked by her side. But Kara was not blind, and she was aware of the way all those people looked at them, hoping to see certain behaviors in a couple formed by women. Suddenly, her hand reached for Lena's, who looked at her with surprise. Kara gave her a tender smile, took her hand gently and they both kept walking among the attendants. Lena also smiled, appreciating the gesture.  
"Hey there, hotties!" Shouted a male voice. Both became slightly uncomfortable.   
"Mon-El!" Exclaimed Kara.   
He was dressed in a tuxedo that looked really good on him. But what Kara liked best about that image was the beautiful woman who was clutching his arm, Lucy Lane, in a nice violet dress.   
"Look at the faces they’re making," joked Mon-El.   
"My boyfriend is always such a prankster, forgive him," Lucy said.   
"I didn’t know you were attending this gala," Kara said.   
"I was invited on behalf of the army, and he, well...Sometimes I wonder why I bring him as a companion.”   
"Because I'm handsome and funny," he replied quickly, "and because you're the person that matters most to me in the whole world, and you know it," he added, looking her in the eye.   
Kara and Lena looked at each other with a frown, then turned their attention to them.   
"Anyway, have a good time, surely many more people will want to greet you," said Lucy, giving silly smiles to her boyfriend, who did not take his eyes off her.   
"That's a couple in love," Lena sighed.   
"I'm sorry, maybe I should be more affectionate with you..." Kara muttered.   
"No, don’t worry, we've never been too sugary-sweet in public."   
"Well, we’re lucky then." They smiled.  
The background music changed and Kara noticed that many people were looking at them.   
"Why are they all looking at us?" She asked Lena softly.   
"They expect us to dance together," Lena explained. "Kara and I used to dance at these events.”   
"I like to dance, and I can do it pretty well in fact," Kara boasted with a confident smile on her face.   
"I know; it's a natural talent that all you Karas have," she said, smiling, "So ..."   
Kara nodded. Lena placed her hands on the Kryptonian's shoulders. Then, Lena felt Kara’s arms move around her back, bringing her a little closer to her body. She sighed; she had not danced with anyone else for two months. They moved perfectly in tune with each other, enjoying the music and the pleasant sensations they were experiencing. For Lena, it was like going back in time. From time to time, she could not help but close her eyes and lean against Kara's neck, trying to imagine that she was her girlfriend and that the last few weeks had only been a nightmare. For Kara, it was something new; she had never danced with a woman like that. She was enjoying it too much, and she did not know if it was because she liked to dance, or because her dance partner was Lena Luthor.  
However, at some point, Kara guided Lena in a twirl, and that made her moan in pain.   
“Sorry, I did not think I was squeezing that hard!” Kara exclaimed at once.   
"It's okay, it's not your fault," Lena said, dismissing the incident.   
But Kara was not convinced. She knew she hadn’t put enough pressure to hurt her under normal conditions, what had really happened? Although Lena tried to continue with the dance as if nothing had happened, Kara was a little more cunning. She started guiding them towards one of the corners of the ample room, using the movements of the dance as an excuse. When she thought that no one could hear them any more if they spoke at a low volume, she spoke her mind.   
"It was your girlfriend, wasn’t it?" Lena looked up at her quickly. "She hurt your wrist."   
Lena averted her green eyes. She did not want to answer, the memory hurt too much. But Kara insisted, eager to understand what had really happened.   
"That's what Alex meant when she said she attacked you, she didn’t hurt just Maggie and the DEO agents," she said.   
"Please, Kara, let’s change the topic, I don’t want to talk about it," she admitted looking at her again. Her eyes were a lifeless, greenish gray.   
"I'm sorry; I didn’t want to upset you." Kara regretted talking to her so directly.   
"Okay, let's forget about it and continue with the gala.”   
Lena forced a smile and took Kara's hand to pull her and bring her back into the central area.  
About two in the morning, the gala came to an end. Lena said a word of thanks for the presence of all the attendants, on her behalf and that of her girlfriend, Supergirl, who stood at her side with her fists on her waist, showing a kind smile.   
"Looks like the people had a good time," Kara said.   
"Yes, everything has gone well," Lena observed. We can go back to my house flying, I don’t care if my hair gets a little ruffled anymore." she joked with a smile.   
Kara nodded in delight, and helped her put on her coat. It was a cold night, and she would need it if she was going to cross the skies. She lifted her in her arms and looked at her.   
"Hold on tight," she said suddenly. Lena looked into her eyes.   
“Uh?” She stammered without understanding.   
"To fight the cold," Kara said. “I keep my body temperature in spite of the climatic changes”.   
"I know that very well," Lena thought.   
As Kara had suggested her, Lena clung to her body. She could feel her heartbeat perfectly, a painfully familiar sensation. She kept her eyes closed for much of the flight. Just as during the gala, she wanted to forget everything and imagine that she was back in the arms of her Kara.  
The Kryptonian landed carefully and released Lena, who could not help but sigh. Kara knew why.   
"I wish I could give you what you've lost," she said.   
"You're lovely, Kara.” Lena gave her a tender smile.   
"No wonder the Kara of this world fell in love with you," Kara said earnestly.   
“Why do you say that?” Lena asked, looking at her intently.   
"Because...You're a wonderful woman."   
As soon as she had spoken, Kara looked troubled, convinced she'd screwed up. Lena gave her a hand, aware of the situation.   
"Surely no more than the Lena of your world." Lena smiled fondly. "Good evening, Kara.   
"Good evening, Lena.”   
To remind her of Lena Luthor's existence in her world was the best for both of them. Cat was right, what could Kara eventually feel for her if they kept up with that farce? Lena did not want to hurt her; it was more than enough with her own suffering. Kara was totally innocent of what had happened on Earth-40. So, for one more night, Lena had to contain her irrational impulses, those who told her that her girlfriend was back in her apartment, and curled up in her bed, begging Morpheus for some mercy.   
XXXXXX

On Monday morning, Kara called CatCo to inform that she could not go to work because she had an appointment with the doctor to review the results of her surgery. Only James knew the truth, Kara was needed in the DEO.   
"So you finally got it repaired?" She asked excitedly.   
"That's what they told me," Alex said, "Just some more minor adjustments.”   
It was hard for Kara to hide her excitement.   
"Chill, little Danvers," exclaimed Maggie, "you seem to be anxious to lose sight of us all, have we really treated you so badly?" She teased, making her laugh.   
"I'm sorry, Maggie, you know it’s not like that at all."   
They exchanged smiles and at that moment, Lena and Winn entered the central operating room.   
“All good?” J'onn asked.   
"Fixed!” Winn announced proudly, "And ready to be tested!"   
Lena smiled and held out her hand to Kara to give her the Inter-Dimensional Extrapolator.   
"Here is the door to go back home." Despite her smile, Kara felt the sadness in her voice.  
Kara started to say goodbye to everyone, shared hugs with Alex and Maggie, and assured that she would return very soon, but that she needed to see her own Earth and tell her sister that everything was all right, that she needed not to worry about her safety. When Lena's turn came, the others left to give them some privacy.   
"You did a great job, Kara," Lena assured her, "and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Thanks to you, the city believes that Supergirl returned, that we are together and in love, those malicious rumors have calmed down... and We…You've given us a little more time to continue the research to know what happened to my girlfriend.”   
"Lena, I'm coming back," Kara said, "so don’t talk like you’ll never see me again.”   
"You know you don’t have to, right?" Lena said with a sad smile. “You've done so much more than you had to, no one will blame you if you don’t return here.”  
"I would," stated Kara, "I will not leave you with all this, I will come back."   
Everything was so absurd; that was not her Kara, she was not her girlfriend, and yet a part of her was reluctant to let her go. She would never say that aloud, but it was not necessary either: Kara was reading it in her green eyes.   
"You'll have me back sooner than you think," she promised, licking her with her own blue pair.   
Lena wished her a safe trip, and the others approached to wish her the same. Kara powered the artifact and generated an inter-dimensional portal.   
XXXXXX

EARTH-38   
Kara appeared on the roof of the building where Alex lived. She went down to her balcony and took advantage of it being already open to sneak inside. She saw her sister drinking a beer on the kitchen table, her back turned on her.   
"Alex..." She whispered. The agent started on the stool and turned quickly to her.   
"Kara!" She shouted, running to her and hugging her tightly, "Oh my God, you're back, I was thinking the worst, dammit!"   
"You were already burying me? Supergirl is invincible," she exclaimed with exaggerated haughtiness. Alex slapped her playfully on the arm.   
"Why didn’t you contact me? You couldn’t? Did you defeat Barry's enemy?"   
“Hang on, let's sit and I’ll tell you everything, because...There is a lot to tell.”   
Alex frowned and hurriedly sat down with her sister on the couch.  
"Earth-40…" Alex repeated for the third time.   
"Yes, instead of returning here, the device took me to another of the infinite parallel worlds, but fortunately, Winn and Lena were able to repair it and that's why I was able to return home.”   
“Winn and Lena...” Alex seemed not to be able to grasp what Kara was telling her.   
"Yes, as I told you before, everyone in this world has an alter-ego on Earth-40."   
“Sorry, it's just... I cannot imagine having a Doppelgänger.”   
"You probably have infinite of them, I was shocked too," Kara admitted, "but the truth is that you look a lot alike, and it’s not just your appearance, you share the same grumpy, neurotic personality," she added, sticking out her tongue.   
"Hey, who's grumpy?" Alex complained, pushing her.   
"And the same protective side for the people you care about," she said with a smile. Alex curled up her lips and looked away. "By the way, how's things going with Maggie?" She asked, the curiosity was too much for her.  
“What?” Alex looked at her with an expression of surprise. "Good...Very good.”   
“Very good?”   
"The night before you left, she came to my apartment and well... We're together," she muttered, looking down.   
"Are you girlfriends?" Kara shouted excitedly. "Just like on Earth-40!” She laughed.  
“Seriously.”   
“Really?”  
Kara told her all the novelties and not-so-novelties she had known on Earth-40 and Alex couldn’t seem to get enough; she was really fascinated with the existence of the multiverses. She was horrified by the situation of Kara-40 and how it had affected the lives of all her loved ones, and regretted that they did not find the cure for her. But, no doubt, what had surprised her most was the romantic relationship between Lena Luthor and Supergirl, which the tabloids has baptized as “Supercorp.”   
"And how was pretending to be her girlfriend like?"   
"Well, it wasn’t that complicated, Lena made it easy." Alex looked at her with an exaggerated smile on her face. “What?”  
"Nothing...It's so funny that you've finally crossed to my side," Alex admitted. "When I tell Mom she's going to freak out."   
"It's not so surprising, is it? You knew I'm bisexual. Besides, you can’t tell anyone that Alex! I'm sure they'll start telling jokes with the Lena of our world and I don’t want that." Kara was nervous.   
"Of course, because you absolutely don’t care about our Lena," Alex exclaimed, smiling sideways.   
"I don’t like her like that, but I care about her; she's my friend," she justified herself.   
"Well, she seems to really care about you," Alex declared, suddenly sounding interesting.   
“Oh yeah?”   
“Yeah.”   
"Alex, dammit, tell me if I need to know something!" Alex laughed again.   
"Well...You see, James told me she came to see you at CatCo.”   
“Really?”   
"And not only that, she called me asking about Supergirl.”   
"Well..." Kara was silent and just stared.   
"We told her the same lies we tell everyone, but I'm sure she'd love to get a surprise visit from Supergirl.”   
“You think so?”   
"I know that, and that you would like to see her too: it’s written all over your face.”   
"Drop it, Alex!" Kara complained. "What happens on one Earth doesn’t necessarily have to happen in others too.”  
Kara explained her sister that she had to return to Earth-40, that she owed it to all of their alter-egos for the warm welcome they had given her and for helping her return to her true world. Alex understood perfectly, she had a strong sense of honor as did her sister, and assured her that she could leave at peace, that between J'onn, Mon-El, Guardian and the DEO they had everything well-covered during her absence.   
"Tell everyone I'm fine and that I'll come back as soon as I can," Kara said, and hugged Alex strongly.   
"Take care of yourself, please, and come back soon," Alex said, "I love you."   
“Love you, too”.   
XXXXXX

Kara flew to the L-Corp building; it was dark outside. She was curious to see the Lena of her world; it was as if she was going to see her again for the first time, like that morning when she met her with Clark. She knew that everything she had lived in the last week had changed her, and that nothing would ever be the same. She remembered the last time she had seen her, after the missile containing the Medusa virus neutralized by her exploded. She thanked her and Lena nodded, apologizing for having fooled her by making her think she was working with her mother. Kara had felt guilty for believing in her betrayal, but the final relief at seeing her on her side was stronger.  
She stopped a few feet away and saw her on the balcony of her office, a glass of wine in her hand. Lena had just ended a business dinner and had not yet gone home. She looked at her a little more and saw that she appeared sad and lost in thought. Lena, completely oblivious to her, sighed with her eyes closed.   
"I miss you," she whispered to the wind.   
"Me too," Kara admitted internally.   
Lena felt a little wind unfurl behind her, and turned quickly, thinking that maybe it was Supergirl. She did not see her, yet her green eyes met with a beautiful bouquet of white plumerias resting on the ground by the door.   
Lena took a few steps, set the glass on the floor and picked up the bouquet. She closed her eyes and delighted in the floral scent. She knew they were freshly cut, and that had been Supergirl's thing. She smiled and opened her eyes, looking for her in the sky, but she did not find her.   
"Thank you, Supergirl..." Lena muttered, hoping the Kryptonian could still hear her.   
"You're welcome, and goodnight, Miss Luthor," Kara said behind her. Lena turned at once.   
"Supergirl, you're here!" She exclaimed, happy to know that Supergirl had not disappeared and that she cared.   
"That's right..." Kara came down until she stood on the ground. "First of all, I'd like to properly thank you for what you did two weeks ago. You saved many innocent lives.”   
"This bouquet is a nice gesture of appreciation," Lena replied with a smile, "but-" Kara frowned. "Do you use my last name again?"   
"I've always used it."   
"That’s not true, when I was about to launch the missile, you shouted my first name," Lena pointed out.   
"You’re right, but it was an extreme situation; I thought that my plea would have been more effective.” Lena looked away.   
"Of course it has more effect when you call me by my name," she whispered with a shy smile that infected Kara too, "and I wish you would continue to do so if you do not mind."   
"Of course not," Kara exclaimed, taking a few steps toward Lena.  
When she was close enough to her, the shadows of the night no longer prevented her from seeing her face clearly. Her heart almost stopped.   
“Oh, Rao...You're beautiful...How could I just see you as a friend before?” She thought.   
Kara stared at Lena in a state of utter astonishment. Her eyes were as green and beautiful as those of the other Lena. No, they were even more so, for they had not the shadow of deep pain that had dyed those of her alter-ego since two months.   
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Lena asked, feeling a bit intimidated.   
"Sorry, Miss–" Lena lifted her left eyebrow and Kara corrected herself, “Sorry, Lena.”   
"You did not answer me... Supergirl," Lena insisted.   
"It's... It strikes me as odd to see you after meeting your alter-ego," she admitted sincerely.   
“My other self?” Lena asked curiously.  
She had not planned it, but things had unfurled that way, and Lena deserved an explanation of her long absence, especially after having asked so much about her. Kara told her about the multiverse, told her about the Dominators on Earth-1, helping Barry and her friends, and her subsequent unexpected trip to Earth-40, where everyone had an alter-ego. Lena, like her sister Alex, was excited about that adventure, possibly for sharing that scientific and eager side for new knowledge.   
"But this is incredible, we have doubles!" She exclaimed without being able to restrain herself.   
"Yes, we do.”   
Lena shortened the distance between them, driven by the injection of adrenaline that her scientific mind had received with that story. That gesture was enough for a familiar scent to reach the nostrils of the Kryptonian, feeling that her heart would stop for a second time. She recognized the perfume of Lena-40 in the skin of her Lena. If she was already attracted to her in that world, that effect multiplied in her own, because she did not have to repress herself, because nothing made her feel guilty for wanting her.   
"Your perfume..." she murmured dazedly.   
“Does it bother you?” Lena asked, feeling guilty. "Do you also have a superhuman sense of smell? I'm sorry... "She stepped back a few steps, aware that she was using a very intense perfume, but then Kara came out of her trance and advanced those same steps towards her.   
"It does not bother me at all." Lena's expression relaxed. "On the contrary, I like it very much, it's very... Nice.” She gave her a wide smile and Lena bit her lower lip and looked down, then managed to change the subject.   
"I'm so sorry about what happened to the Supergirl from Earth-40, and I'm glad my alter-ego is helping to heal her; it reassures me that they're friends there, too," Lena added with satisfaction.   
"Friends...That's what I thought...They're lovers, they're in love, they make love..." she counted mentally. “But I can’t tell you because it would affect you too much."   
“Supergirl?" Lena called, frowning.   
"Excuse me, I was thinking...I have to go back there, they need my help."   
"It seems very noble of you not to leave them to their fate after helping them; it’s typical of you," Lena said proudly.   
Kara smiled at her words, and Lena felt her cheeks burn.   
"Yes, definitely, you look beautiful when you blush," she thought.  
Lena cleared her throat.   
"Well, I suppose you have to go," she managed to say. "I don’t want to keep you if they need you."   
"Yes, I have to go now," Kara announced.   
"I hope everything is resolved soon, have a safe trip.”   
Kara nodded and turned her back on her.   
“Supergirl!" The Kryptonian turned to look at her. “Be careful.”   
"I will...Lena.” The young CEO curled her lips in a beautiful smile.   
"See you soon..." Lena muttered as she lost sight of her.   
END OF EARTH-38   
XXXXXX

The first thing Kara did upon arriving at Earth-40 was to face a minor alien who was making a mess in an alley. It didn’t take much effort to defeat it, but, during the skirmish the Extrapolator of Cisco broke in several pieces. Kara cursed, picked them up and forced herself not to worry; Winn and Lena had repaired it once anyway, and they could do it again.  
When the DEO showed up on the scene, and Alex and Mon-El took over the alien. Kara greeted them, informing them that she had returned, and then headed to Lena's penthouse, where she welcomed her.   
"You thought I wasn’t coming back?"   
"I know this isn’t easy for you, you know don’t have to do it, and-"   
"I always keep my word, Lena.” She took her hand.   
"I know." She looked down for a moment. "How was your sister?"   
"Oh… She’s good. Very good," she added, remembering that she was dating Maggie.   
"And...Did you see anyone else?" Lena asked, thinking of her alter-ego.   
"Well, the truth is, I did," she replied, smiling.   
"And it looks like that went well," Lena pointed out.   
"I think it was good for me to see her, I needed it."   
"In order not lose track of ourselves with all this pretending game," Lena reflected inwardly.   
“I'm very glad, Kara," she said sincerely, "and now let’s go to sleep; tomorrow you have no excuse for not going to your office at CatCo.”   
"Right, I need to be there on time!” Kara exclaimed with energy. "Good night, Lena!” She kissed her cheek and retired to her room.   
"You needed to see her, she's the one for you," she murmured in the solitude of her living room.  
Kara got into bed with a question. In her world, Alex had ended up dating Maggie, just as had happened some time ago on Earth-40. Could the same thing happen between Lena and her? She was starting to think that, despite some more circumstantial differences, the personality and essence of the people was the same in all the Earths in which those people existed. And if that was the case, then it was not crazy to think that between her and the Lena Luthor of her world something more intimate than friendship could be born. As long as her Lena also felt something for her, something like what she had felt when she saw her again after two weeks. She hugged the pillow tightly.   
"I like Lena!” She shouted inside her head.  
 


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks a lot Catarina and Miss Healey for your help!

When Kara finished her day at CatCo, she passed by L-Corp to pick up Lena and fly with her to the DEO facilities, because Lena had a meeting with Alex.   
"Since you came too, Kara," Alex said as she greeted them, "show me what you can do, I'm curious."   
Kara frowned, not understanding. Lena smiled.   
"I came to practice self-defense with Alex," she explained.   
"Oh," Kara replied.   
"Let's go to the special room," Alex said, walking in front of them. They followed her.  
Kara knew that room or at least its exact copy in her own world. Its walls emitted a eighteen percent kryptonite radiation, enough to deprive her of her powers without injuring her. When the three of them were inside, Alex triggered the mechanism and a green light illuminated the place. Kara felt slightly faint, and shook her head to recover.   
"Ready?" Alex asked, adopting an attack stance.   
"Always," Kara answered. Lena sat down on a bench next to the wall and stared unblinkingly at the agile movements of both Danvers.   
Alex tried to surprise Kara, but the Kryptonian managed to stop almost all of her attacks. At one point, she was about to knock Alex down, but ultimately couldn’t, the agent was faster and managed to block her.  
After a few minutes of exchanging punches, they both looked at each other panting from the effort.   
"I see your sister taught you well," Alex joked. She didn’t expect anything less.   
"Of course, relying on strength without technique is not much use," Kara said proudly.   
"Your sister said that, right?”   
“Yes.”  
"I also gave my sister the same advice."   
"Do you think I could fight like that someday?" Lena asked excitedly, "I'm impressed.”   
"You'll need time, but certainly your eagerness isn’t lacking," Alex said with a smile.   
"Well, I don’t want to disturb you, I'm going to see Winn.”   
"You don’t have to go, Kara; you can work out on your own while we go on about our training," Alex said. Lena twisted her lips, not quite convinced with her suggestion.   
"Of course," she replied mechanically.   
"Okay, I'll be around..."  
Alex and Lena started with their training. The agent contained herself quite a bit, since Lena's level was much lower than Kara's. The Kryptonian retreated to the wall, while she thought what to do. She spent some time looking at them. She admired Lena's commitment to every stroke and movement, no doubt interested in improving. But she was beginning to admire her body even more, and that was not good. Lena wore a black top, gray sweatpants, and sneakers. The tight clothing on her body wasn’t helping, and the continued movements of a certain part of her anatomy did not help either. Kara cleared her throat to focus and forced her blue eyes away from them.   
"What's the matter with me? I look like a hormonal teenager," she reprimanded herself internally.   
She positioned herself with her hands and feet on the floor and began doing pushups. It was a good way to block Lena Luthor from her sight. The problem was that now another person was losing focus.  
She tried, but she could not help it. When Lena realized that Kara was doing something, curiosity took over, and she turned to face her. She regretted it immediately.   
"Oh God..." she whispered as memories of her Kara moving above her came to mind with full force. She did not see Alex's punch coming.   
"Too slow!" Alex chided. Lena turned her attention back to her teacher; the pain had somehow brought her back to her senses.  
Kara got bored of doing pushups and got up, just in time to see how the sensual figure of Lena moved around while trying to dodge Alex's punches. Her dark hair was gathered in an elegant ponytail and she was sweating.  
"Will I ever see my Lena like this?” Kara thought, “Perhaps under better circumstances,” she smiled foolishly.  
When she came down from her reverie, she walked to a horizontal bar. Taking impulse, she grabbed it with her hands and began to exercise her arms using the weight of her whole body.   
Lena fell back into temptation and looked up at her again. Her green eyes filled with Kara, her movements, her arms tensing, her biceps contracting and relaxing... And then she began choking a little, and then pain erupted in both her arm and leg.  
"What's the matter with you today, Lena? You're a bit off," Alex exclaimed after Lena lost focus. She did not want to hurt her.   
"Having the exact copy of my girlfriend working out is not exactly the best thing to have in front of me when I’m trying to focus," she thought.   
“I'm sorry, today is not my day," she lied, rubbing with her hand where she was in pain.   
"Well, let's leave it here," Alex announced, "Maggie's going to start her rehab and I want to be with her."   
"Very well," Lena said, catching her breath.   
“See you tonight?” Alex asked, raising her eyebrows. Lena looked at her unconvinced. Kara had left the bar and looked at both of them without understanding a word.   
"I don’t know..."   
“Cheer up, Lena, it will be good for you, it will for all of us," Alex insisted.   
"Sorry, what are you talking about?" Said Kara, tired of not knowing what they were referring to.   
"Let’s hang out at the usual bar tonight, to relax a little," Alex explained.   
"I feel like it," Kara admitted. Lena looked at her.   
"All right, I'll see you all tonight," she finally said. She did it for Kara. She was not sure she would enjoy it.  
Alex said goodbye to them and left the room, not without first disconnecting the radiation. Kara felt her powers return to her and took a deep breath with her eyes closed in relief.   
"Feel like yourself again?" Lena asked.   
“Yes.” They exchanged a smile.   
"I'm going to the locker room to change and I'll be right out."   
"I'll go with you," Kara said matter-of-factly.   
"Okay, but don’t even think about using your X-ray vision," Lena teased as she wiped the sweat from her face with a small towel. Kara's cheeks reddened.   
“Of course not! Besides, the walls of the DEO are lined with lead; I couldn’t even if I wanted to."   
"Tanhk God then!" Lena laughed. Kara looked at her in surprise. Did Lena think she wanted to see her naked body through her clothes? She did not want that, of course not. Lena noticed Kara's dilemma.   
"Just kidding, sorry, it's just... Your reactions are so familiar," she confessed, "They bring back memories, beautiful ones.  
Fifteen minutes later, Kara and Lena visited Winn to discuss the Extrapolator’s repair status.   
"So you recovered all the pieces," said Winn, "Bad thing is, some of them are broken.”   
"Can you fix it?" Kara asked with concern.   
“Hope so.”   
"Thanks Winn. Let's meet Alex and Maggie before we leave."   
They were a few feet away to reach the door to the room where Maggie went to rehab, when the cries reached them. They hurried up and entered.   
"But you'll never be the same again, Maggie, you won’t be able to work again!"   
"Alex, stop it!” Cried Maggie, on her crutches, "I am alive because of you, we all are!"   
"But look at you!"   
"The doctors say there's hope I'll walk again for myself!" Maggie insisted.   
"And you believe them? They looked at us with pitying eyes!” Alex sobbed.   
Kara looked at Lena in silence, as if asking what they could do to stop the argument, but Lena just shook her head. It was obvious that this was not the first fight Lena had ever witnessed with these two. But Kara could not sit idly by.  
"Alex, Maggie..." Her voice made them both stop and turn their attention to the newcomers.   
"Don’t interfere, Kara, this has nothing to do with you," Alex said in a low voice.   
But Kara completely ignored her and walked over to her.   
“Alex...” Kara took her by the shoulders and forced her to look at her, “I see that no matter where we are, you will always be the same, taking responsibility for everything and everyone, and blaming yourself for mistakes that you didn’t made... You saved Maggie’s life, and Lena's too, there's nothing for you to regret.”   
"Yes there is: I could not save my sister and now Lena's life fucked up... And Maggie...Her career in the police department is over, we all know these things but nobody seems to want to say them out loud," she snapped.   
Alex released herself from Kara's hold, gave Lena a regretful look as she passed her and left the room. Maggie came up with her crutches and put her hand on Kara's shoulder to dissuade her from following her.   
"Leave her alone for a while," the detective suggested, "She needs to calm down."   
"She shouldn’t carry all that guilt," Kara said in affliction. “It’s going to be the end of her.”  
"We don’t know how to help her," intervened Lena, "If only we saw some progress with Kara, something that would give her hope...”   
"Something that gave us all hope," Maggie added.   
Kara sighed. She hated feeling so helpless, but that was how she felt now. She could not free Alex from her guilt, or cure Kara-40 for Lena to become happy again, or heal Maggie's leg to get her job back...Why was everything so complicated?   
XXXXXX

Although Kara thought that there would be no nightly hangout for the group due to what happened at the DEO, Alex did not cancel the meeting. Lena told her that she had talked to Maggie and that things had calmed down. Kara was glad, though she knew the problem was still lingering there.   
Lena came out into the living room wearing a white blouse and a black pencil skirt that really suited her. Her hair was fell loose over her shoulders. Kara awkwardly got up from the sofa as soon as she saw her. She had opted for a pair blue jeans and a checkered shirt.   
"You look great," she admitted, reaching for her glasses.   
"Thanks, Kara, you don’t look bad yourself." She winked at her and Kara smiled widely.   
“Yeah, right.”   
While flying, Kara admitted to herself that she already loved that perfume that the two Lenas shared. She also wished she could fly very soon with the Lena of her world. She would seek an excuse to do so if necessary.   
"Why didn’t you want to come to the bar?" Kara asked as she landed and released Lena from her arms.   
"The last time we came here...My girlfriend didn’t behave too well," she whispered, looking away. "She flirted with other people in front of me.”   
"How could she do such a thing?" Kara cried indignantly.   
"We shouldn’t have come then, Kara was no longer well, and I knew that, I noticed it that afternoon at home when...When we made love." Kara stopped looking at her, uncomfortable, feeling that she was invading her privacy, but Lena continued talking. “She was selfish and demanding with me; she even suggested that we didn’t use the bracelets...”   
"Oh Rao..." Kara exclaimed scandalized.   
"I could handle it, nothing happened, but...She was no longer my Kara and here, at the bar... She really showed us all up, she was about to start a fight. Luckily, we got her out in time.”  
"Now I understand your hesitance, we still have time to leave," Kara offered.   
"Don’t worry, I'm fine, I want to be with everyone," she said with a soft smile.   
"Okay, so let's go." Kara held out her hand and Lena took it gratefully.  
The alien bar was exactly like that of her world, and Kara experienced a familiar feeling as she walked through the door. The group greeted them from a table, receiving Lena with special cheerfulness. Alex and Maggie had ordered beers, Mon-El and Lucy were sitting very close together, Winn and Susan Vasquez seemed to be engaged in some technological discussion and J'onn and M'gann chatted and shared smiles at some distance from each other.   
“All good?” Kara asked Alex softly so no one else could hear her.   
"Yes, it’s all right. Thank you for trying to help, Kara," the agent thanked her. Kara answered with a smile.  
After a little chat, a song that Kara loved, “That's my Girl” by Fifth Harmony, started and it didn’t take her two seconds to get up.   
"We have to dance!" She exclaimed, taking Lena's hand.   
"Kara, wait..."   
Lena's cup slipped out of her hand, but Maggie was quick and picked it up before it fell off the table. She winked at them.   
"Everything’s under control, have fun," she said.   
Kara moved with ease and accuracy, singing at the top of her lungs some parts of the song. At first Lena felt intimidated, she could not dance like the lucky Kryptonian girls, but Kara's dazzling smile took away all the fears and embarrassment and she began to move to the rhythm of the music, forgetting where she was and the people that were around. When Kara realized it, she showed even more enthusiasm. They were having so much fun. Kara kept singing and dancing and Lena was laughed at her exaggerated movements. Alex didn’t take her eyes off them.  
"You're not so bad dancing!" Kara cried over the music.   
“Don’t make fun of me!” Lena answered with a blush on her cheeks. She went to give her a playful thwack, but Kara noticed it and quickly turned away from her, only to surprise her from behind.   
"I mean it, you move very well," she whispered in her ear, causing her to shudder.   
Lena turned quickly to face her, and found those damn blue eyes, and her perfect smile, a smile that faded as Kara plunged deeper and deeper into Lena's deep green eyes.   
Why couldn’t her be her girlfriend, her Kara? She wanted her so badly, she wanted to dance and laugh with her so much...Lena's mind was not alone in evaluating impossible ideas. Kara could not take her eyes off her, to the point that she no longer knew in which Earth was or which Lena was looking at her in that special way. Fortunately, someone witnessed the situation and intervened in time.  
"Kara, come over and have a beer with us!" Alex shouted so she could be heard.   
Kara looked at Alex and then back at Lena. She was a little out of place.   
"Go with them," Lena agreed. "I'll stay with Winn and Vasquez. I think they're talking about something I can get into," she teased, touching her arm.   
"Okay." Kara touched her glasses, smiling, and went to the table.   
Winn and Vasquez immediately welcomed Lena, who started laughing at their ideas.   
"Lena needed this," Alex said. "I have not seen her laugh like this in a long time.”   
"You're really a godsend, Kara of Earth-38," Maggie added, clinking her beer against Kara's.   
"I'm glad to be of help," said the Kryptonian.   
Then she took a sip from her bottle and looked around the group. She frowned when she saw J'onn kiss M'gann on the cheek, even Winn and Vasquez seemed to be particularly well off.   
"J'onn and M'gann...?" Kara asked.   
"They're together," Alex said, "They haven’t been long, but I think they'll do very well."   
"And Winn and– Vasquez?" She stammered.   
"Yes, I also think there is something, or that it’ll soon be. But Susan is very reserved, she hasn’t told me anything, and Winn... Well, he’s Winn, he seems to like almost all girls, even if he doesn’t dare to ask out any of them.”   
"Do you remember when he tried to ask Lucy for a date?" Maggie pointed out.   
"It's true, that was fun: it took him all day to bring it up to her, the poor thing.”  
Kara watched them talk, it was so nice. Would it be like that to go out with her sister and Maggie in her own world?   
"It seems that everyone on this Earth is a couple," she said amusedly. They both focused on her. "What?"   
"Who are you with on your Earth?" Alex asked suddenly. Kara almost choked on her drink.   
“What?” She managed to answer.   
“Who are you going out with? Are you married?"   
"No, no, I'm not married!" Alex raised her eyebrows, urging her to keep talking, "And I'm not seeing anyone."   
"Why, is there not anyone around?" Maggie added.   
"Well...Just before my trip to Earth-1, Mon-El kissed me.”   
“Mon-El?! He just doesn’t go with you. He needs a woman more...”   
"More what?" Kara asked annoyed. Maggie looked at her girlfriend.   
"More like Lucy," Alex replied, "Stricter, sterner, more intense, more passionate...”   
"Do I have to worry?" Maggie asked, looking up at her girlfriend with raised eyebrows. Alex laughed.   
"Not at all," Alex replied, kissing her on the lips next.   
"I'm very passionate," Kara complained. “I have a lot of passion inside!”   
"Of course," Alex said without believing her. "Then you're interested in the Mon-El of your world?”   
"Actually, his kiss caught me by surprise and I didn’t feel butterflies or anything. I mean, no. He's handsome and fun...But no, I do not feel anything but friendship for him. Although he kissed me when he was a little sick, and I think he does not even remember. Better for the both of us.”   
"So...You don’t have anyone special in your world...Interesting," Alex said.   
"Why ‘interesting’?" Kara asked uneasily.   
"Oh, nothing," Alex answered just before glancing sideways at Lena, who was now dancing and chatting with Mon-El, Lucy, Winn, and Vasquez. “But don’t get...Earths…Mixed up, please.”   
"I try not to," Kara said. She had understood Alex's advice perfectly.   
XXXXXX

When they opened the door of their apartment, Maggie asked Alex to help her get to bed, because she was exhausted. Alex smiled at Maggie's face; she could not deny her anything if she looked at her like that and lifted her into her arms carefully.   
But in the middle of the hall, Maggie stopped being still. She reached for Alex's neck and kissed her repeatedly, causing her to stop, her breathing a little labored.   
"I thought you were exhausted," whispered Alex.   
"I set you up, Danvers.”   
"Maybe I fell for it because I wanted to."   
"Sure..." she purred into her neck between kisses.   
"Okay, let's go to bed this instant," Alex said, resuming her steps toward the bedroom.   
XXXXXX

Another couple also came to the place where they slept, but they weren’t kissing; they didn’t even share a room.   
"I had a good time tonight. Thank you, Kara.”   
"There’s no need for that, I had a lot of fun too," she said, smiling.   
"I'm going to change my clothes," Lena announced.   
"Okay," Kara answered, sitting down on the couch.  
Lena approached mirror and began unbuttoning her blouse. She smiled sadly at her own reflection. How different that night would end if the woman in the living room was her girlfriend.   
"If you were my Kara, you would come in here and take off my blouse with urgency..." she muttered.   
She still wore the garment over her body though wide open, when the sound of something breaking caught her attention. Instinctively, she ran into the living room, where she found a shattered glass figure lying at Kara's feet, whose face was red as a tomato.   
“I'm sorry, it slipped from my hands!” She exclaimed hurriedly.   
It didn’t take three for Lena seconds to figure out what had happened.   
"Did you hear what I said?" She asked in embarrassment, closing her blouse with her hands.   
"Yes, I'm sorry, I...I was waiting for you, but I don’t know, I sometimes pay attention to...To make sure everything is fine, I... I didn’t want to hear you, I'm sorry..." Kara spoke hastily, avoiding Lena's green eyes.   
"Don’t apologize, please; it's okay," Lena said quickly.   
They spent at least two minutes in which neither spoke nor were able to look the other in the face. Lena sighed; it seemed ridiculous to continue that much longer.   
"I should keep those thoughts in my head. I don’t want you to feel guilty, Kara, you didn’t do anything wrong," Lena assured her.   
The Kryptonian lifted her head at last and looked at her with her blue eyes, now calmer and less red.   
"Of course," said Kara, "I’ll try to not pay so much attention when we’re here. If something serious happened, I'd probably hear it without any effort.” Her eyes focused on the clothes Lena wore. “Go change, I'm sorry I interrupted you," she added with a soft smile.   
When Lena returned to the dressing room, Kara asked her about something that made her very curious, so as to keep other things from her mind.   
"Why do you train with Alex?"   
"To learn to defend myself."   
"I thought that being Supergirl's girlfriend that was not much needed.”   
"I thought the same, I was so used to Supergirl protecting me that I didn’t realize it until after losing her.”   
“What?” Kara asked.   
"That Supergirl cannot be with me at all hours, and I must know how to defend myself. I know how to use a gun, courtesy of my father. He used to say that a girl should have her resources, but I want to learn to defend myself without weapons as well.”   
"You seem very convinced, as if you had experienced that necessity.”   
"I did..." She smiled sadly. “They tried to kidnap me shortly after Kara became ill.”  
The menaces of the radical group cease to arrive, and they all played the same "end your relationship with Supergirl or you will regret it" message. But Lena always faced them and ended up ignoring them, even when Kara stopped being herself and thus lost her protection.   
Sadly, they fulfilled their threats, and one night, several men came to the door of the building where Lena lived: they had followed her when she left her work at L-Corp. Although her bodyguard tried to confront them, there were too many and they soon overpowered them. Hadn’t Alex and Maggie decided to visit her that night, those people would have achieved their purpose.   
Alex spotted the man on the floor and turned to Maggie.   
"Call an ambulance!" She exclaimed and hurried off.   
She fought those men and managed to free Lena, although her aggressors fled.   
“You okay?”   
“I’m fine.”   
"If anything happened to you, Kara wouldn’t forgive me," Alex had said.   
"If you hadn’t come…”  
"And that's how I realized that I could not rely solely on Supergirl and my bodyguard," Lena explained. "I'm a potential target, and I must know how to defend myself, so I asked Alex for help.”   
"Now that I'm here, they won’t hurt you again," Kara said with determination.   
"Thank you...But you cannot be my shadow either, Kara," she said with a smile, "Good night."   
"Good evening, Lena.  
How strange it all was. Kara promised to protect her from all evil, but she did not know that the greatest harm Lena could suffer at that moment was to have her so close yet not be able to touch her. Because if she did, it would not be her Kara who would react to her kisses and caresses. They needed her on Earth-40, and not only did she help directly with the public, she also made her smile again more than once. But the price Lena had to pay every day and night for having her there was high.  
Kara also did not get into bed too happy. Everything that had happened during the day had made her want to see her Lena again. But in order to do that, the Extrapolator needed to be repaired. She sat up on the mattress and opened the first drawer of the coffee table. She took out a small white flower that she kept from the bouquet of plumerias she cut for Lena on that night and cradled it delicately in her hands.   
"I hope to see you again very soon...I need to," she whispered.


	9. Chapter 9

On Wednesday afternoon Lena Luthor and Supergirl were to open a new public park in the very core of National City. The works had been completely funded by L-Corp and the whole city was delighted by the results. Many people of all ages gathered there, humans and aliens alike.

Alex and Maggie were in change of the security of the event alongside some DEO agents. Mon-El and some other agents took care of the surroundings. Kara stood some steps behind Lena, her arms crossed across her chest. Once the initial applause had died down, Lena began her speech. Kara listened to her intently. She felt proud of her, of everything she had been able to achieve in that world, and she hoped to see her own Lena enjoying the same support: she truly merited it.

Lena finished talking, and an applause answered back. She then proceeded to go down the steps from the stage with Kara’s help, who kindly offered her a hand. The press photographers immortalized that scene, and they both thought that they would see it on the covers of the magazines the next day. Then, they walked to a red ribbon that bound together a pair of trees and the cut it together with a pair of scissors. The applause could be heard again.

“I hope you all enjoy this new park: it was created for you,” Lena announced with a smile.

After exchanging some words with the journalists that were present, Lena and Kara approached the public who wished to greet them. They walked together, hand in hand and showing brilliant smiles. Suddenly, a little girl, no older than six, with blond hair and green eyes came running to them. 

“Can I take a photo?” she asked in a cute childlike voice. 

They both understood she was asking Supergirl, so Kara turned to look at her without stopping to smile for a moment.

“Of course, little one. What’s your name?”

“Lori,” she answered, and then pointed to a couple who were holding a cellphone directed at them, “Those are mum and dad.”

Kara crouched next to her and carefully put her arm around her waist. Lena was about to retire to not to disturb them, when she felt Lori’s tiny hand taking hold of her own. She turned to her.

“You, too,” sentenced the little girl without stammering. Lena smiled, moved, and she placed herself crouching next to her from the side opposite Kara’s. The parents immortalized the scene from their spot and Lori gave the both of them a hug.

Lena and Kara stood up while holding Lori’s tiny hands each. The parents came to them.

“Thank you very much to the both of you…You are truly an example for this city and for the whole world,” assured the man.

“Well…” Kara didn’t know what to say; she wasn’t used to these situations.

“No, thank you for bringing your daughter along,” Lena assured with a kind smile.

“Lori asked us to come here, you’re her heroines,” explained the woman, “and I honestly like that she thinks of you like that, and that she learns even as a child that love is above sex, species, and everything else.”

“Bye Supergirl, bye Lena Luthur,” said goodbye the little girl. Kara had to hold back her laughter when she heard the way she mispronounced Lena’s family name: she was dying of cuteness. Lena also kept her composure, feeling the same warmth for Lori.

“It’s Lena Luthor, my sweet,” her mother corrected tenderly.

“Oh, it’s not a problem: for you I am Luthur,” Lena told her with a wink, making the child laugh.

“Are you all right, Kara?” asked Lena. The Kryptonian looked at her with watery eyes.

“That was…honestly moving,” she admitted with a hitch in her voice,” That that little girl also wanted you in the picture…And that her parents were so happy because we were her heroines…It’s so beautiful…And it doesn’t seem real.”

“I didn’t quite expect that either, but it sure made the rest of my week look brighter,” Lena joked.

“You damn freak!” A shout broke among the congregation. “Go back to your planet with that cape of yours and don’t ever return! We don’t want you here, Supergirl!”

Kara looked for the origin of the ruckus and saw a few men trying to come closer to their spot while continuing to scream at them.

“You should be ashamed of yourself, Lena Luthor! After everything those monsters did to your own brother you just keep fucking one of them!” cried one of them.

Alex and Maggie entered the picture immediately. The former gave the order to her fellow DEO agents to arrest those men and get them out of there before they ruined what was still left of that beautiful afternoon.

“What you have cannot be! It’s an abomination and you will be punished for it!”

Kara gave her attention to Lena, who had lost all the cheerfulness she had minutes prior. She felt anger and indignation at those men. 

“Who are those people?” she asked, “I thought the whole city loved Lena Luthor and Supergirl,” she went on, dumbfounded. 

“Well, you see…It’s been awhile since we went over homophobia on Earth-40…People go out with men or women as they like it, and there is no problem if the case involves different human races either,” Alex explained, “But there is still intolerance running rampant, although of another kind.”

“It’s called alienophobia,” Maggie chimed in, “It’s the absurd rejection of aliens and everything related to them, especially romantic interspecies relationships.”

“In National City, the alienophobes have created a group. They call themselves ‘Cadmus’,” Alex elaborated.

The moment she heard that word, Kara felt a chill. Lena took her hand, concerned.

“What’s wrong?” she asked worriedly.

“Cadmus also exists in my world,” Kara revealed.

“You also have alienophobes, then?” asked Maggie.

“Well, yes…”

Kara began remembering the whole Metallo and Cyborg Superman incidents, the Medusa Virus and the role that Lillian Luthor played in all that. She felt the impulse to share her knowledge but she suddenly remembered what Lena had told her about her mother. On Earth-40, they both had a relationship that was closer and more frequent than that of her own world and, though reluctantly, Lillian seemed to have accepted the fact that her daughter was romantically involved with Supergirl. Maybe in that world Lillian wasn’t a criminal after all…? She didn’t want to spoil Lena’s relationship with her mother without evidence. If she accused Lillian, she would never accept Supergirl and forgive her daughter if she turned her back on her to support her girlfriend, so she decided that the best course of action was to remain silent until she discovered more information about Cadmus.  
XXXXXX

The program for that Wednesday ended with a charity dinner that would take place on a very exclusive restaurant with the most popular celebrities as attendees. Kara was happy to meet Cat Grant there and she spoke with her for a few minutes. She also noticed the closeness with which she spoke to Lena. When they came back to her apartment, she coulnd’t help herself.

“So, are you and Cat Grant close?”

“Pretty much,” Lena provided, “Is it any different in your world?”

“You haven’t introduced to each other on Earth-38, not that I know at least,” Kara admitted, “And I am honestly surprised about this, because Cat has never been a Luthor fan.”

“I guess becoming the girlfriend of her dearest Supergirl helped a long way,” Lena joked, laughing a little.

She then approached the rooftop terrace, opened the crystal door and went outside. Kara followed and stopped next to her, against the handrail. 

“How did it happen?” She asked.

“What are you talking about?” Lena’s green eyes left her stunned for a moment.

“Well…Our…,” Lena looked at her frowning a little, “I mean, your relationship with the other Kara,” she corrected hurriedly. Lena looked at her sweetly and then looked at the night sky. 

“I couldn’t tell you when we stopped being just friends exactly,” she began, “It was something that evolved little by little, almost without us noticing.”

“That is…Beautiful,” Kara articulated. Lena gave her a smile and took to looking the night sky once more, “Who gave the first step?” Kara asked with interest. Her curiosity was fully awake and she could not stop.

“It was me, although I was terrified…,” Lena confessed while lowering her gaze. She could reject me, or even get angry at me, and I didn’t want to lose my only friend in National City but…What I felt for her was very strong and I couldn’t remain silent any longer..

“And you didn’t lose her,” Kara asserted.

“On the contrary, I won her and much more,” Lena assured, “But I didn’t see things like this in the beginning. When I confessed my feelings to her I also gave her a kiss, and Kara literally ran out of my office,” Lena laughed and Kara smiled in return, “I think I caught her unawares, and she spent three days without visiting me. But she came back in the end, and apologized for her flight. I know she was ashamed of herself: Supergirl running away from a kiss!”

“So, what happened?” Kara asked, completely absorbed by the story.

“I wanted to tell her I was sorry for taking the liberty of kissing her, that everything was all right if she didn’t feel the same way I did, that we were friends above all…But she didn’t let me speak for long: she kissed me vehemently and my heart just stopped,” Lena was smiling, moved, while she recalled those moments. “It was one of the best days of my life.”

Kara smiles at the sight of her honest happiness. She had seen very few times her green eyes shining so. 

“So, why Supergirl instead of Kara Danvers?” She suddenly asked.

“We make a great team together.”

“You and Supegirl?”

“With both Supergirl and Kara Danvers, if you must know,” she laughed mischievously. Kara averted her gaze for a moment. “ But we agreed that Cat Grant was right, the public couple made by Luthor and Supergirl could do much for people, and I believe we guessed correctly,” Kara nodded, remembering little Lori and her parents, “In any case, both of her personas are mine,” she added giving Kara a wink.

Kara smiled broadly, a little nervous. She had gotten enough information for that night. But then Lena’s turn came.

“How’s your relationship in your world?” she asked, “Are you and Lena close?”

“Yes, we are good friends,” Kara assured, now with a more relaxed smile.

“We started the same way in mine,” Lena whispered.

Kara felt her heart going faster. In truth, she was already crossing the line, but she didn’t know her own Lena’s feelings.

“How’s the Lena of your world like?” she went on, smiling.

“She’s a brave woman, committed, honest,” Kara quickly answered.

“You seem to be very fond of her,” Kara blushed a little at that, “You speak very well of her. Does she know that Kara and Supergirl are one and the same?”

“No, she doesn’t.”

“Or so you think,” Lena pointed out.

“What do you mean?” Kara asked frowning a little.

“Well, it took me a while to discover the truth. Maybe she also knows but prefers to let you know she doesn’t until you are ready to tell her.”

Kara stood a little discomfit. Did Lena know that her and Supergirl where the same person? Didn’t seem absurd to think so: Cat Grant connected the dots early, although she fooled her with the help of J’onn later. 

A sudden gust of wind made Lena shudder a little, who was only wearing a sleeveless dress. Kara noticed and covered her shoulders with her cape, getting closer to her in order for the garment to cover both of them. Lena smiled silently to the Kryptonian’s gallantry. After a few minutes without sharing any words, only feeling the warmth from each other’s bodies, Lena made a move to return to the living room. However, when she turned towards Kara, she noticed that they were both invading the other’s personal space: she was so close. Her hand moved on its own. Her fingers lightly brushed Kara’s lips. She sighed. The Kryptonian was holding her breath.

“Her heart is beating faster. Her breathing has altered. Is she going to kiss me?” Kara asked herself, “Why don’t I step back?”

“You are the same as her…” Lena whispered with an expression of pain.

Kara was paralyzed, as if bewitched by her green eyes and red lips. But Lena reacted in time and took a step back, freeing herself from the cover that Supergirl’s cape provided.

“Please, forgive me…For a moment I thought you were her.”

“No…It’s all right,” Kara managed to explain, trying to calm herself and silently thanking that she didn’t have to reject her. If she could have.

“I really miss her,” Lena confessed with melancholy.

They said goodbye for the night without any more words because they needed to be alone and shake the tension of what had happened. Lena approached the window of her room.

“If I only could feel your lips again,” she wondered while observing the reflection of her own eyes on the glass.  
XXXXXX

On Thursday afternoon, Kara paid a visit to the DEO to hand over a couple of aliens that she had captured after they had committed a robbery. She took the opportunity to talk to Winn.

“The artifact is severely damaged,” he admitted, “It’s not like it happened the last time: we had all the pieces and just some issues with the connections.”

“Can’t we ask for help to Cisco on Earth-17?” Kara suggested.

“We have no means to connect with Earth-17,” Winn informed her, “We just took Barry in when he came to visit.”

“Just my luck…” Kara grumbled.

When she returned to Lena’s apartment, she noticed her uneasiness.

“Have you talked to Winn about…?”

“I did, and he didn’t give me much hope,” Kara answered without looking at her.

“I also have been studying the device,” Lena pointed out, capturing the Kryptonian’s attention, “I don’t think it’s impossible to fix it, but we’ll need to create some pieces for the artifact specifically. That will take days.”

“Thanks Lena. At least you don’t think this is a lost cause,” she gave her a sad smile.

“I’m sorry about this, Kara,” it was painful to see her in that state.

“It’s not your fault, Lena; it’s mine. I should have been more careful.”

“I will do everything within my power to ensure you can go back home,” Lena promised herself silently.

Kara went to bed, a possibility that terrified her turning over and over in her mind. What if Lena and Winn couldn’t repair the Inter-Dimensional Extrapolator? What would become of her if she became trapped on Earth-40? She needed to come back to her people, to her Lena. She turned sideways and closed her eyes, but sleep was late to come to her.  
XXXXXX

On Friday morning, Kara went to CatCo without energy. Sadness had taken a grip on her. James noticed, but decided not to overwhelm her with questions. And he wasn’t the only one: the queen of all media called Kara to her office. Kara cursed internally; the last thing she needed was to have to pretend in front of Cat Grant.

“Kerah, you don’t look so good. It’s everything going all right with your recovery?”

“Yes, I just didn’t sleep much tonight, Miss Grant,” Kara answered automatically.

“Are you sure that’s all?” Car insisted, “If you need to take a day off due health reasons you know you can do it.”

“No Miss Grant, it’s not a health issue,” Kara assured, giving herself away without noticing.

“Then there is a problem, Kerah,” Car resolved triunphally, “Please, have a seat.”

Kara averted her gaze for a moment and obeyed, sitting in front of her boss. Cat took off her glasses, left them on the table and fixed Kara’s face with her brown gaze.

“Tell me, Kerah, what has gotten you so?” she asked, “I don’t like it when my employees are down, because they perform worse and in return I earn less,” she added, earning herself a smile from Kara.

“It’s…Complicated…”

“I think I will be able to understand, so try me.”

Kara surrendered to her perseverance, took some breath and began to talk.

“It looks like that, after some time and some incidents, I have realized that I like somebody,” her words changed Cat’s expression.

“May I know the identity of that person?” she asked, uneasy. Suddenly, the sorrow she was seeing in those blue eyes made sense. She feared the worse.

“It doesn’t matter…That person is so far away…”

“Far away?” that aspect confused her and, at the same time, relieved her immensely.

“Yes, so far away, and I don’t even know if I will see her again sometime,” Kara admitted, defeated.

“A long-distance romance is always complicated,” Cat admitted, forgetting the fact that Kara had referred to a woman, because that didn’t bother her in the slightest.

“I don’t even know if the feels the same way that I do,” Kara added without shame, thankful for the fact that Cat hadn’t given any importance to the sex of the person that gave her such dreamless nights.

“And you would like to pay her a visit and tell her how you feel.”

“I would be content with just seeing her,” Kara admitted, resigned. 

“I don’t like seeing someone like you defeated: it’s not like you to be like this.”

“Excuse me?”

Cat left her chair and approached Kara, inviting her to stand up. She then placed her hands on her shoulders.

“I hope everything gets better soon, and that you can return to your world, Kara Danvers-38.”

“To my world…Did you, did you know…?” Kara exclaimed, her eyes big as saucers. Cat laughed and took a couple of steps back.

 

“Please, don’t insult my intelligence. Of course I knew. It’s been quite a while since I discovered that Kara and Supergirl are the same person, and it was clear that, when one fell sick, the other would disappear in return,” she explained, “And I also knew that the both of them from my world were replaced by you.”

“Does Lena know that you…?”

“Nor Lena nor Kara know, and I prefer it that way. I don’t want them to feel forced to tell me something they didn’t want to tell me till now. I came out to you because I was worried about what was happening.”

“Thank you, Miss Grant,” she said sincerely. She then proceeded to explain the issue with the Inter-Dimensional Extrapolator.

“Do not give up. I know Lena, and I know she will do everything within her power for you to return to your world.”

“Can I give you a hug?” Kara begged, moved.

Cat nodded and took her in her arms. It was surprising how that new Kara had won her affection, just like the Kara of her world did in the past. She wished with all her might that she could return to Earth-38, because that was her home, and because the woman she liked was waiting there. A woman that, fortunately, wasn’t Lena Luthor-40.  
XXXXXX

Kara went to L-Corp in the afternoon due to an assignment by her boss, Snapper Carr, to make an interview to Lena Luthor about Cadmus. Jess let her pass into the office and instructed her to wait for her boss. Kara sat on a chair but, after waiting for a few minutes she became restless and paid attention to her surroundings. She recognized Lena and Jess’ voices fron the other side of the door.

“We see that you ignored us. Be careful, princess, your Kryptonian girl won’t always be near you,” Jess’ voice recited, “I am sorry, Miss Luthor, I believe you should inform the police. Those guys don’t seem to joke around.”

“Don’t worry, I’m sure they won’t venture any further than those words,” Kara heard Lena say.

Suddenly, she opened the door and Kara moved uneasily on her chair, reaching for her glasses while she tried to pretend. The young CEO smiled.

“Has anyone ever told you that it is rude to overhear private conversations?”

“Lena…Please, tell me what’s going on,” she asked seriously.

“It’s nothing you must worry about,” Lena answered while she leaned on her table, very close to Kara.

“Those people threatened to hurt you! How could I not worry?” Kara exclaimed, annoyed, “Was that Cadmus?”

“Don’t worry, I’m used to it. They do it frequently,” she admitted.

“How can you get used to something like that?” Kara asked, astonished, “Then…Going out with Supergirl…It’s a risk you’re taking!” she exclaimed, standing up.

“Nothing is ever perfect,” Lena resignedly explained, “There will always be people who are against something. But the truth is, I had never worried about that while I had Kara by my side.”

“That kidnapping attempt you told me about…It was them, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” she admitted.

“How can you be so calm, then? Those people are criminals, they should be in jail.”

“Of course, but it isn’t so simple, Kara. So, while we can’t do that, I prefer to think about all those people who love and support us.”

“I won’t leave you alone,” Kara said with determination.

“As interesting as this does sound,” Lena joked, “Supergirl has a lot to do: she can’t be both my full-time girlfriend and my bodyguard; that’s why I hired John.”

“He isn’t doing a good job at protecting you.”

“Kara, stop,” Lena softly said, placing her hand on Kara’s chest, just where the symbol of her Kryptonian family laid under her shirt, “I am really thankful for your honest concern, but Supergirl belongs to everyone: I do not hold the exclusive property over her. It has always been like this and I don’t want it to change…Please.”

“But…” Kara objected, frowning.

“What’s more, Alex and Maggie already know about this. The DEO takes care of me, don’t worry”.

Kara pursed her lips and Lena gave her a smile. That woman never ceased to surprise her with her worrying, her instinct to protect, her bravery…Even though she was having a hard time missing her world.  
XXXXXX

“It’s been almost a week already,” Kara-40 informed,” ¿When are you going to let my girlfriend visit me again?”

“If that was up to me, Lena would never come down to this place again,” Alex assured without looking at her.

“My, how selfish you’ve become big sis!” Kara accused her, “Just imagine how you’d feel if I, let’s say, had gone a little too far and you couldn’t see Maggie again.”

Alex turned to face her directly. The Kryptonian looked defiantly back at her, an incomprehensible rage clouding her gaze.

“Luckily, I arrived just in time to stop that from happening,” she exclaimed. Kara just smiled.

“But of course! Better a limping girlfriend than a dead girlfriend.”

Alex took a deep breath and went back to her task with the computer, which was compiling her sister’s vital sign’s data. Faced with the agent’s silence, Kara began talking again.

“At least you could bring me a photo of Lena, if you won’t let her visit me.”

“I didn’t forbid her to come here: if you haven’t seen it’s because she decided not to visit you. And I honestly can’t blame her.”

Kara frowned. Ire began pumping through her veins.

“What do you mean?” she asked, placing her hand over the glass with a thump, “Has she already forgotten me thanks to my substitute?!” her voice began to rise.

“Well, that will be all for today,” Alex announced before proceeding to reach the exit door.

“Do not ignore me!” Kara bellowed, “Tell me what’s going on between those two, I have a right to know dammit!” she hit the glass several times.

Alex closed her eyes, tightly. Even after all that happened, it was still her sister’s voice, and this time it sounded pained, desperate. She couldn’t help it and turned to face her once more.

“There’s nothing going on between them. Kara is helping us, and Lena is doing what she can so no one discovers the truth about all this.”

“I want to see her,” Kara asked, now more relaxed.

“She is in pain when she sees you like this, Kara,” Alex explained, “And you hurt her with your words.”

“Maybe I’d be a lot nicer if you’d let me out of here,” she suggested.

“Don’t you even try this again; do I have to remind you what happened a month ago?” Alex sentenced.

“But I am reforming! Can’t you see that I am able to keep a civilized conversation?” Kara exclaimed.

“I’m sorry; I can’t risk you hurting more agents just because I listen to my heart while ignoring my head.” Kara just laughed.

“Those agents where just rookies: they needed somebody to straighten them up,” she taunted, “If Mon-El and J’onn hadn’t intervened, I could have escaped.”

“Well, this sounds more like your current personality. Good night, Kara.”

Her sister called her again, but Alex knew how this conversation would end. She was tired of facing the same situation time after time, so she made her exist without another word while Kara shouted her name.  
XXXXXX

EARTH-38

Alex was trying to catch her breath after her orgasm. Maggie was still above her, smiling exultantly. 

“Twenty-eight years missing this…I don’t know how I did survive,” Alex joked.

“Easy there, Sanvers,” Maggie whispered while she kissed her neck, “I am going to help you make up for lost time.”

“Relax, Sawyer: now it’s my turn to enjoy you,” Alex announced while she changed places with Maggie and placed herself above her, who in turn looked back at her surprised and delighted.

“Well, I won’t resist,” she assured while she gave her a teasing look.

Alex smiled openly and started leaning towards her girlfriend when the doorbell rang and permeated the atmosphere.

Maggie frowned and Alex raised her head.

“Are you expecting someone?” the detective asked.

“No…”

The doorbell rang again. They looked at each other.

“Only my sister and my coworkers at the DEO know where I live, apart from my mother. I think I should go take a look.”

“Maybe somebody got the wrong address.”

“They’re persistent; remain here,” Alex requested while she got out of bed and quickly did her pajamas, “Be right back,” she kissed her on the lips and left the bedroom.

“Miss Luthor…” Alex said in surprise when she opened the main door.

“Just Lena, please,” the young CEO greeted back, “May I come in?”

“Just a second,” Alex closed the door and when back to the bed.

“It’s Lena Luthor!” she exclaimed.

“What’s doing Lena Luthor in your apartment on Friday evening?” Maggie asked.

“I don’t know, but it’s better if you get dressed.”

Maggie nodded and hurried to cover her body with her pajamas; she then sat down on the living room couch. Alex when back to the main door and opened it.

“Sorry, please come in,” she took a couple of steps back to allow Lena to access the apartment, “It’s something wrong?” she asked, still disconcerted by the visit.

“I am sorry to disturb at this hour without notice, but I needed to ask you about Kara. It’s been more than two weeks since I haven’t heard anything from her.”

“I understand. Please, take a seat,” Alex politely offered. She then came next to Maggie, who was wearing a pair of pajama pants and a sleeveless tank top, “This is Maggie, my girlfriend.”

“Oh…” Lena was surprised, however pleasantly so, “My pleasure. Please, call me Lena,” she added, offering Maggie her hand. She took it friendly.

“Maggie Sawyer, pleased to meet you.”

The both rejoiced at the naturalness with which Lena had learned of their relationship.

“James Olsen told me Kara had traveled to Europe to cover a story, but I haven’t heard from her since she departed and I think it’s strange, to be honest.”

“Well, she’s having some issues with the cellphones, but we communicate via email,” Alex explained.

“Then, is she all right?” Lena asked with interest. Maggie didn’t lose track of her every gesture.

“Yes, don’t worry. She’s just too busy with the story, but she’s all right,” Alex provided.

“Do you have also news on Supergirl?” she asked, trying to sound nonchalant and casual, “How’s her mission on Earth-40 going? She came to visit four days ago and she told me some things,” Lena added.

“So she went to see you in the end…” Alex whispered, smiling sideways.

“Excuse me?”

“Oh, nothing…” the agent assured, “Supergirl is still there, helping with whatever she can.”

“I am happy to know everything is all right,” Lena admitted, relieved, “I wish they could find a cure for their true Supergirl so than ours can be back to us.”

“That we all wish,” Alex declared, and Lena smiled.

“When you next speak with Kara, please tell her I miss her very much and that I want to see her,” Lena requested, “And if anything happens with Supergirl please let me know.”

“Rest assured, I will.”

“Once more, I am sorry for coming unannounced. Thanks for letting me in Alex, and if you ever need something from me or from L-Corp, you know where to find me.”

Lena got up from the couch and held her hand to Alex. She took it with a smile and she accompanied her to the exit.

“A pleasure to meet you, Maggie,” Lena said before leaving, “Good night.”

Once more alone, Alex came back to the couch and sat beside Maggie, taking her hand. 

“So, are Lena and your sister close friends?” Maggie inquired narrowing her eyes.

“They get along very well, yes.”

“I’d say they do much more than just get along, because coming here unannounced to ask you about her…”

“Do you think Lena likes my sister?”

“That she likes her, that’s pretty evident,” the detective assured. “And she likes Supergirl, too.”

“You think she’s having doubts between the two?” Alex exclaimed, bewildered.

“Well, of course not, because she knows they’re the same woman,” Alex raised her eyebrows, “What? You can’t seriously believe she hasn’t noticed. We’re talking about Lena Luthor here. She’s the owner of a multi-billionaire corporation, she’s earned several doctorates, and what’s more…It’s clear that she knows, judging by the way she speaks of the two of them.”  
“I am delighted that you know the truth about Kara and Supergirl,” Alex confessed while she hugged her, “This way, I can’t talk to you about these things without messing up, and I don’t want secrets between us.”

“Me neither, and to tell the truth, everything about this is very interesting…Lena doesn’t know that her alter-ego and Kara are girlfriends, does she?”

“No, Kara told me that she wouldn’t tell her if she paid her a visit.”

“So, were in possession of some privileged information, Danvers,” Maggie said in a teasing tone while she jumped over her girlfriend.

“Get off, Sawyer, now I am in charge,” Alex sentenced while she took a hold of her wrists, “Or had you forgotten about it?”

Maggie laughed and they both got up to go back to bed.

It had taken a bit of courage to go to the apartment of Alex Danvers. What would the agent think when she saw her in person instead of getting just a phone call? But she wanted to see her face when she asked her about Kara; she needed to read in her eyes that everything was all right. However, even after Alex’s words, Lena was not completely at ease. She felt a strange uneasiness, but she wanted to think that everything was the product of her longing and her desire to see her again.

Her gaze searched the vase containing the plumerias Supergirl had given her four days prior. When she left L-Corp that night, she took them with her. Their scent couldn’t be as strongly perceived, but it still lingered there. She reached with her index finger and carefully grazed a petal.

“I hope your sister didn’t lie to me and that you really are all right on Earth-40…Kara,” she whispered.

END OF EARTH-38  
XXXXXX

Lena found Kara sitting on the couch. She had her arms around her knees and she was looking the night sky with melancholy though the glass doors.

“I thought I was the one used to look at the starry sky,” she announced to break the ice. Kara didn’t look at her.

“I talked to Winn. He’s told me that the Extrapolator still doesn’t work,” she said with a weak and sad smile. Lena sat next to her.

“Winn doesn’t like to talk about things when he’s not completely sure. Don’t lose faith, Kara.”

When the Kryptonian turned and looked at her, Lena almost couldn’t recognize her eyes. They were wet and slightly reddish. Had she been crying? She felt terrible.

“You have greeted me with your arms open,” Kara assured, “But I need to return to my world, I don’t want to become trapped on this Earth, this is not my place, this is not where I need to be…”

“Kara…” Lena didn’t know what to say. She had never seen her like this.

“Here I’m only usurping the place of another person, robbing her of her life…”

“Please, don’t say that; you are not doing anything wrong.”

“Your girlfriend would say otherwise,” Kara guiltily pointed out, “And when I think that I could never hug my sister Alex again, or see…,” the young CEO raised her brows, encouraging her to go on, “…Or see my Lena…I want to tell her that Kara Danvers believes in her, I want to tell her my secret, I want to…” Confess to her that I like her, she finished in her thoughts while she sobbed.

Despite Kara’s attempts, Lena knew what was really happening to the Kryptonian. It reminded her too much to the powerlessness she herself felt due to the state her girlfriend found herself in. A few tears escaped Kara, but she quickly dried them with the back of her hands.

“I’m sorry. I just got sentimental here.”

“Even the most powerful heroine has a right to feel vulnerable.”

Lena wasn’t used to seeing Kara so defeated; it made her heart break. That girl who didn’t owe her anything had done so much for her. She had lifted her mood, she had made her laugh, she had protected her image before National City and the world…Seeing her like a child, Lena knew that night was her turn to become her solace, her strength. Even though she there was little she could do to alleviate her sadness.

She approached Kara and embraced her by the shoulders. Kara startled a little when she felt her, but in no time she accepted the contact, the warmth and love Lena was transmitting her. She hid her face in Lena’s neck and began to cry silently. Lena could tell by her little tremors and her muffled sobs.

“Never lose hope, Kara,” she begged. The Kryptonian raised her head and looked at her with her blue eyes, clouded by the tears. Lena held her face with both of her hands, “I know it’s hard, but we can’t give up. We both have reasons to keep fighting.”

“And what if those reasons disappear?” she questioned.

“What?” Lena echoed back, letting her arms loose.

“What if I can never go back to my world? What if your girlfriend never gets better?” she seriously contemplated, “What will become of the both of us?”

“Kara…” she whispered.

Lena trembled when she felt Kara place her arm around her waist. She lowered her gaze to make sure that what she was feeling was real. When she raised her head again, Kara’s blue eyes were shining with a different nuance and her pupils had dilated. 

TO BE CONTINUED


	10. Chapter 10

Kara observed Lena for a few moments during which the young CEO was unable to bat her eyes. She had never seen her display that behavior nor that look. Suddenly, Kara leaned towards her and closed her eyes. Lena’s were fully open; she was paralyzed by the Kyptonian’s outburst. The first thing she felt was the heat emanating from her body and then how Kara’s arm gripped her a little tighter to shorten the distance between them. Finally, she felt soft, warm lips grazing her own and she too closed her green eyes. 

What if Kara’s words were true and things never got better? What if the broken Extrapolator was a sign…? They had met by happenstance, but, could they be destined to be together?

Kara kissed her intensely, gripping her frame as if she were the only thing that could save her from the darkness looming over her spirits. Lena returned her kisses and her hands stopped being empty to hold Kara’s strong shoulders. The Kryptonian pulled a little more at her waist and, using her strength, was able to lift her evenly in the air to place her on the couch and lay over her. Her hands glided over Lena’s arms until they immobilized her wrists, carefully so as to not hurt her. She could feel her all over her body, from their entwined legs to their breasts, though their joined hips. Kara leaned over Lena, once more searching for her mouth, and she found it. They kissed again. She freed her wrists and leaned on a hand on the couch to be able to caress her face with the other.

But then, the memory of a different kiss, that which her Kara gave her more than a year ago, assaulted the mind of the young Luthor. Her lips stopped responding to the Kryptonian’s.

“Kara, no…” she whispered against her mouth while she placed her hands against her chest, fully knowing she couldn’t push her away an inch but trying to make her see that that couldn’t be.

Kara incorporated a little, placing her hands over either side of Lena’s head. She looked at her; she was breathing with difficulty, just like her. Her cheeks were flushed, she looked incredibly beautiful…And immobilized under her superhuman weight and strength of her body, to her mercy, pleading with her eyes to be freed from her. The guild consumed her. She jumped from her, freeing Lena and leaving the couch, trembling with glassy eyes.

“Oh Rao, what have I done?” she cried.

“Kara…” Lena called, getting up from the couch.

“Please, forgive me,” Kara begged her, “I don’t know what came over me.”

“Kara, calm down…” Lena pleaded in a soft voice.

“I just took you for granted! You had way more reasons that I do to cross the line over multiple past occasions yet you always held yourself in check. And what do I do? The first moment I feel down I take advantage of you! I’m a disgrace!”

“Kara, stop now!” Lena exclaimed to interrupt the Kryptonian’s confusing spiel, “You didn’t take advantage…I let you kiss me. This is on both of us.”

“But…I started it…And you… you had to stop me…” Kara insisted in a tiny voice, refusing to look at her.

Lena approached her with the idea to soothe her in mind, but the moment Kara sensed she wanted to touch her she stepped back, rejecting her.

“No…” she turned on her heels and started walking to the main door.

“Kara, wait…”

Her plea went unheard and Lena was left alone and confused about what had just taken place. However, she didn’t want to overthink the kisses they had shared: repairing the Extrapolator was top priority so that Kara could go back to her world, and she would do everything she could to achieve that goal.

Kara felt broken. Just a few minutes before she was laying atop Lena, Kissing her with desire, but the truth was that she felt defeated and without any exit in sight. To make things worse, crossing the line like she had done made her feel terribly guilty. For the first time since arriving to Earth-40, Kara slept in tears when the exhaustion finally overcame her.

On Saturday morning, Lena woke up earlier than usual, but Kara had already left the apartment. She thought that maybe somebody needed Supergirl’s help, but it wasn’t the case. Kara didn’t want to meet her because she didn’t know how to even look at her after what had happened; she was ashamed of her behavior.

“Kara, are you OK?” Alex suddenly asked. The Kryptonian looked at her and forced a smile.

“Of course, why wouldn’t I be?” she lied.

“Because you are being too quiet to be you,” Alex sentenced, “Is it because the Extrapolator isn’t still working?”

“Yes, that’s the reason,” Kara assured.

“Winn and Lena are really exerting themselves; I’m sure they’ll repair it.”

“I’m sure they will…”

“Lena is doing everything humanly possible,” Alex informed, “She has even put L-Corp’s resources at the disposition of the repair process, her own employees and everything.”

Kara remained silent with an absent gaze.

“Hi there, Little Danvers!” Maggie greeted when she reached them.

“Hi, Maggie,” another forced smile. The detective frowned.

“Somebody didn’t sleep well tonight, uh?” she suggested when she saw the absence of any light on Supergirl’s features. But Kara didn’t reply.

“There’s a fire in a National City’s skyscraper, Supergirl!” Agent Vasquez exclaimed.

“On my way,” Alex nodded at her words and Kara flied towards the city.

“Something’s bothering Kara,” Alex said.

“Well, that you can become trapped in a world that’s not your own is something, that’s for sure.” 

“No, Maggie, I mean something else…” Alex pointed out, “When I mentioned Lena, she stopped talking; she couldn’t even look at me. What if something happened between them?”

“Something like what?” the detective inquired, “Something that shouldn’t happen?”

“I don’t know, and I don’t want to ask Kara. You just saw how she’s acting today.”

Alex gave Lena a call to her personal phone: she needed to know why Kara was behaving that way. Lena wasn’t completely honest. She told her that they both had some little disagreement over Kara’s situation about being unable to return to Earth-38, but she kept to herself the intimacy they had shared for their own good. She didn’t want to cause Kara any harm and she knew that if somebody found out the guilt would be too much for her to bear. She also didn’t know Alex to have a bad opinion of her; after all, she still was her girlfriend’s sister and she might never understand her moment of weakness.

It was obvious that things couldn’t go on like this. Kara had spent all Saturday outside, excusing herself with Supergirls’ missions and only came to the apartment to sleep past three in the morning, thinking that Lena would already be asleep. She was wrong.

“Kara…” her voice was heard in a whisper when the Krypyonian crossed the glass door of the rooftop terrace. 

“Still awake?” Kara questioned avoiding her gaze, “I’m going to bed, I’m tired.”

“Wait,” Lena walked to her, “We need to talk, we can’t go on like this.”

“Like what?” Kara echoed, feigning confusion.

“You are avoiding me and Alex remarked that. She gave me a call.”

“You told her what happened?” she exclaimed with worry.

“Of course I didn’t…” Lena reassured her, “It’s something that concerns just the two of us,” Kara gave a sigh of relief. Lena walked closer and took her hands, “Please, don’t punish yourself about what happened. Even though you come from Krypton, you are just as human as I am when your emotions overcome you. You weren’t all right…We all make mistakes,” she added averting her eyes.

“Kissing you wasn’t a mistake, I wanted to do it…” Kara assured seriously, piercing Lena with her blue eyes, something that made her a little nervous, “When you are so close I forget who you really are and I just can think of one thing…Kissing you,” she revealed.

“Because you like the Lena Luthor of your world,” the young CEO pointed out.

“I guess…” Kara answered with a sad look, “My mind just clouded and I did the wrong thing, thank you for stopping me…” Kara stopped looking at her, “Such superheroine I am, unable to control my own impulses,” she lamented. Then, she felt a soft squeeze on her hands and turned her attention back to Lena.

“Kara, our circumstances are complicated and, sometimes, desperation makes us do things that we regret afterwards.”

“I shouldn’t have kissed you back,” Lena reproached herself internally, “What was I thinking?”

“This whole thing is a damn nightmare,” Kara babbled while she slumped down over her cape on the couch. Lena sat beside her.

“I would like to talk whenever something happens, I don’t want misunderstandings between us,” she assured.

“You are right,” Kara acquiesced, “I’m sorry, I was overwhelmed and I didn’t know how to talk to you.”

“Everything’s forgotten now,” she lied. Her mind still replayed the kisses they had shared last night, “And now we should go to sleep, I need it too.”

“Thanks, Lena,” Kara said with a smile, “Honestly, you really make things easy,” Too easy, she thought, getting lost in her eyes.

At that very moment, she felt the temptation to kiss her once more. She was so close. She was in thrall to her green eyes, and her mouth seemed to be calling her. Lena began to get nervous; she knew it by the accelerated cadence of her heart. Was she making her uneasy or did she share her same forbidden need? Suddenly, a known voice sounded in her mind: “I miss you,” and the image of Lena Luthor smiling excitedly while holding a bouquet of plumerias erased everything else. Kara shaked her head and got away from the woman that sat beside her on the couch. She was Lena, yet she wasn’t her Lena. 

“Good night,” she said as she stood up.

“Good night, Kara,”

First thing in the morning on Monday, Supergirl rescued several people from landslide near National City and then came back to the DEO, where Lena and Winn were waiting for her to tell her the latest news. 

“I can’t believe it! Is it really fixed?!” Kara excitedly exclaimed.

Winn and Lena both nodded, smiling. Kara approached her.

“Was this the reason you spend the whole Sunday outside the apartment?” she asked in a low voice so that only Lena could hear her.

“Yes, that was the reason,” she answered. She wasn’t quite lying, but there was another reason: thus she had kept herself at bay from Kara. She needed it after what had transpired on Friday night.

“Thanks a lot, Lena, really,” Kara hugged her enthusiastically, making her blush a little, “You don’t know just how much this means to me.”

“I do know…” she whispered while Kara looked at the little artifact she was holding in her hands, “Would you like to try it now?”  
“Can I?” Kara asked like a little girl about to open her birthday present.

“Of course, this is all about it: we need to know whether it works or not.”

Kara gave a call to Cat Grant to inform her that she needed to travel to Earth-38 now that they had succeeded in helping her, and that she wouldn’t be able to go to the office that day. Cat understood perfectly and reassured her that she would fabricate some excuse to cover her before Snapper Carr. Kara thanked her for that. Then, she proceeded to say goodbye to everyone present and activated the artifact, which generated a portal that she crossed without hesitation.

EARTH-38

The first thing Kara did when she finally appeared in her world was to go to the DEO premises. There, she was greeted with smiles and hugs filled with affection by everybody, specially Winn, J’onn and Alex. A while later, she accompanied her sister to her laboratory.

“Oh Rao, you just don’t know how much I wanted to give you a hug!” Kara exclaimed while she took her sister into her arms.

“Ouch!” Alex complained, making the Kryptonian relax her arms, “That’s what I call enthusiasm!”

If you only knew I almost couldn’t make it here.

“Are you here to stay?” Alex asked, hopeful.

“Afraid not, just for today,” Kara gravely admitted, “I’m still needed at Earth-40.”

“Well, that’s disappointing,” her sister retorted while she pursed her lips, “And not just for me. Do you know who came to my apartment asking about you the other night?” Kara frowned, “That’s right: Lena Luthor in the flesh.”

“I need to call her, I need to tell that I’m here, I need to see her,” Kara enumerated in a hurry. Alex looked at her containing her laughter.

“Kara, take a little breather. How about you message her first?” she suggested, “If you give her a call in that state you will give her a scare,” she mocked her sister.

“You idiot…” Kara muttered.

She ended up taking her sister’s advice, and Lena’s message arrived scarcely five minutes after her own. She told her that she was really happy to know that Kara was finally back and that they could meet on some event that would be held downtown in National City that evening. 

Her return to CatCo wasn’t really as nice. She spent some time with James to fabricate the excuses for past absences and those to come. However, after that, Snapper Carr severely reprimanded her for her lack of professionalism, adding insult to injury considering she had just started her career as a reporter. Kara mustered all of her temperance to bear the man’s spiel. Fortunately, she charged her to cover that evening’s event, so she’ll have the perfect excuse to assist and finally see Lena.

She wanted to see James and speak with him again, so she went to the main office, only to find another person there.

“Miss Grant, you’re back!” she exclaimed with surprise.

“Well, of course I am,” Car retorted, “It’s clear as day that CatCo is going down the drain without me. I don’t know what I was thinking when I chose Olsen to replace me. What has that man just been doing these past weeks?”

“Are you going to remain in National City, then?”

“Naturally,” she assured her, “Has Snapper already charged you to cover today’s event?”

“He did.”

“Then I will meet you there, I have been invited to attend.”

“That’s fantastic,” Kara answered with a smile.

“Why are you still standing there, Kara? Go to work,” she ordered, “Do not thing that just because I’m back you will be able to relax.”

“I would never think anything like that. I will see you this evening, Miss Grant.”

She exited James’ office with a smile plastered on her face. She had really missed her.

When Kara saw Lena in the distance, her heart began beating faster than the already accelerated rhythm it had that day. She had done her hair in a bun with a few black locks graciously falling about, and she wore a bottle-green dress with a cut that showed her leg and a flattering cleavage. She took a deep breath and advanced towards her.

“Hi, Lena,” she greeted, trying to appear calm.

The young Luthor immediately turned towards the origin of that voice she longed for so, and her lips curved into a smile.

“Kara!”

She excused herself to her entourage and accompanied Kara a few feet away.

“How have you been in Europe? And how is that story going?” she asked, agitated.  
It was more than evident that she was really happy to see her, and Kara couldn’t stop smiling: she felt the same. She had missed her so. That evening, Lena looked gorgeous and exuding happiness.

“Very well, to tell the truth, but I have a lot of work,” Kara answered while she remembered all the problems she faced on Earth-40, “In fact, I still am not finished with that.”

“Still? Oh, well…” Lena expressed with disappointment, “Will it take you much longer?”

“I don’t know, to be honest. But that’s why I’m here, that’s what matters.”

“Of course…I really wanted to see you, Kara, “ Lena confessed her, “I was a little worried when you disappeared so suddenly; I thought you maybe didn’t want to keep our friendship any longer,” she added in a soft voice.

“What? Of course not!” Kara immediately exclaimed. Lena frowned, “I mean, I would never think of ending our friendship, I mean…We are friends, and…” she reached for her glasses.

“Thanks, Kara,” Lena said, finding her troubled state amusing.

“No, thank you, Lena. For everything you did to stop the Medusa Virus and Cadmus,” she looked at her with admiration, “I didn’t have the chance to tell you before, and I wanted you to know that I consider you to be a very brave and honest woman.”

“Please stop, you will make me blush…” Lena whispered averting her eyes.

“Oh, I would love that…” Kara thought to herself.

“I’m just saying what I really think,” Lena looked at her against with those beautiful green eyes.

“I missed my only friend in National City.”

Lena took her hand and gave it a soft squeeze. They both dedicated each other sincere smiles.

“Kara, you’re here,” Cat grant exclaimed approaching her, “I don’t think I’ll bear with this any longer, I don’t like this kind of events.”

“I am really sorry that my party isn’t to your liking,” Lena declared. Cat finally remarked her presence.

“Oh, Miss Grant, I would like to introduce you to the person hosting this event,” Kara intervened to mediate between the two most powerful women in National City, “My friend, Lena Luthor,” she added with a soft smile.  
Lena smiled without realizing it when she felt the affection with which Kara had said those words. However, Cat looked at her narrowing her eyes.

“I see that you have made interesting friends in my absence,” Kara frowned lightly, she thought she perceived some annoyance in her words, “So you are the sister of the…Famous Lex Luthor.”

“My family name precedes me wherever I go,” Lena tried to appear indifferent to Cat’s subtle scorn.

Despite their forced smiles and polite words, the tension between both women was tangible. Kara felt uneasy and disappointed. She wished they got along; the both of them were very important to her. But the meeting didn’t extend much more. When she had the chance, Lena bid them farewell to attend other guests. 

“I am really happy to see you again, and I hope we meet each other soon, Kara,” she came closer and kissed her on the cheek, “Until then, please take care of yourself.”

Lena moved away from them and Kara followed her steps with her gaze until she disappeared from her sight.

“You seem to be good friends,” Cat observed. Kara turned to her.

“We are…And you have been a little rude with her,” Kara accused her, “Lena is not like her family. She has been making that clear since she arrived to National City, especially with the Medusa Virus crisis.”

Cat found curious the conviction with which Kara defended Lena Luthor; she had evidently earned her trust.

“I wouldn’t trust her Kara: she is a Luthor after all,” those words made Lana scrunch her nose: she hated hearing the same argument time and time again, “Her brother also started being a good citizen and a great friend of Superman, and look what he became in the end.”

Cat knew too well what had transpired between Lex Luthor and Superman, so she feared the same would happen to Supergirl, to her Kara. She wanted to protect her, even if that meant showing a rigid demeanor and a little brusqueness.

“In reality, she was adopted by them when she was four years old,” Kara informed.

“What a coincidence! Just like you, Kara,” she retorted, annoyed, “And that made you like her all the more?” she inquired, “Do you identify with her?”

“Yes,” Kara admitted, remembering the first meeting she had with Lena while she accompanied Clark.

It was true: she felt empathy with her due the fact of the both of them being adopted, even more for being a woman trying to make her way separate from her family. However, that first positive impression had been strongly reinforced thanks to Lena’s actions, who merited all of her support.

When the party ended, Kara looked for Lena amongst the crowd but couldn’t find her. She asked Jess, her secretary, and she told her that her boss had returned to L-Corp to finish some things from work.

“That sounds so like you,” Kara thought, “I don’t want to go without seeing you again.”

Kara, dressed as Supergirl, flew to L-Corp’s building. The lights of Lena’s office were on. She descended to the balcony and saw her though the glass doors. She was sitting on her desk, revising some archives in her laptop. She could just enter, but she decided to knock softly. Lena jumped a little and turned her gaze to the balcony. Her expression of surprise turned quickly into one of intense happiness.

“Supergirl!” she exclaimed; then, she walked to the glass door and opened it, inviting her to enter.

“Good night…Lena,” it took her a few moments to use her first name, it was still a little difficult to do it while she was in her Supergirl persona, “I hope I’m not disturbing you.”

“Not at all!” she vehemently assured. She hadn’t ceased to openly smile for a moment. Lena didn’t expect the chance to see Kara twice that same day.

The Kryptonian quickly looked at her from head to toe, she couldn’t help it. She was still wearing the same green dress she wore on that evening’s party, with the same beautiful cleavage and a leg subtly exposed and…Was she also barefoot?

“Lena…” the aforementioned raised her left eyebrow, feeling attractive due Kara’s appraisal.

“Where are your shoes?” she asked, frowning. Lena blushed instantly.

“Oh…I took them off the moment I came here,” she admitted, averting her gaze, “The pain was killing me.”

“Oh, I understand you,” Kara replied laughing.

“You do? I thought your boots were comfortable, since you must fight in them and all that,” Lena couldn’t help herself: she knew it was Kara and not Supergirl who had answered her.

“Uh, well, yes, they are comfortable…” Lena sensed her discomfort and decided to save her.

“So, did you just come back from Earth-40? Could you cure the other Kara?” she asked to change topics.

“I’m afraid I didn’t, she’s still sick,” Kara dejectedly informed, “I just came to visit, to see my people.”

“Well, I am really thankful that Supergirl considers me one of her people,” Lena admitted.

“You are my friend,” Kara affirmed.

“You’ll see…Friends tell each other when they are going to be away for some time,” Lena said while raising an eyebrow again, “Please, don’t go away without saying goodbye again,” she begged with her features softened.

“I won’t,” Kara promised with a smile, “Kara Danvers is also back in the city.”

“I know, I met her this evening. To tell the truth, I missed her,” Lena said, “But she needs to go again, just like you,” she added, giving her a meaning look with her green eyes. Kara laughed and cleared her throat.

“There is something I need to tell you, Lena.”

“Do tell,” the young Luthor tensed a little. What needed Kara to tell her? Various possibilities crossed her mind, each one more exciting than the other, so she eventually decided to cast them aside and wait.

“Can you close your eyes for a moment?” Kara requested. Lena frowned, “Trust me,” Lena did, completely, and she closed them.

Kara observed her, now that her desire was safe from being discovered. She looked so beautiful. She felt the urge to kiss her red lips, but everything needed to happen in due time. The moment to share her secret with her had arrived. A few seconds went by, Lena felt a gush of hair nearby but she still kept her eyes closed, even when her heart was beating faster than it normally would: she couldn’t contain her excitement. Kara smiled when she perceived her heartbeat and decided not to make her suffer any longer.

“Open your eyes, Lena.”

When Lena did, she found Kara’s blue orbs behind her glasses. The Kryptonian was also wearing her usual Kara Danvers attire: a checkered shirt and a pair of jeans.

“Kara…” she whispered.

“Yes,” Kara nodded while she adjusted her glasses and wore her typical shy smile.

“I’ve been thinking about this for a while now, but…I didn’t want you to be in a predicament because of me,” she admitted, returning her smile.

“So, you knew,” she remembered what Lena-40 had told her. Lena raised an eyebrow and Kara smiled at her expression.

“You gave me some clues, and I am very observant,” when someone interests me, she added internally, “and there was this simultaneous absence between the two of you. But what really gave you away was the beautiful bouquet of plumerias,” Lena revealed, “Only Kara Danvers knew how much I like those flowers.”

Kara laughed and lowered her eyes for a moment, realizing her evident mistake. She then looked at Lena once more.

“Thank you again for respecting my time, Lena…I wanted to tell you myself,” she said, “I wanted to share with you this part of my life that is so important to me.”

“Thank you, Kara! With all my heart!” Lena exclaimed with her eyes shining with emotion.

She made a move to come closer to Kara, but she suddenly stopped, thinking that maybe it supposed taking too many liberties with her. After all, they had never hugged before. Kara noticed, and she smiled to tell her it was all right. Lena stopped considering, she jumped at her and stood on her tiptoes to embrace her neck because Kara was notably taller since she wasn’t wearing her heels. 

The Kryptonian returned the hug. It was a familiar sensation, feeling her body again yet feeling it for the same time. She hugged her a little tighter; she didn’t want to let her go when she had come clear to her. Lena was still hugging her neck.

“Thank you for sharing your biggest secret…You don’t know what your trust means to me,” Lena sobbed against her shoulder. Kara took her by her arms and separated a little from her so she could see her face.

“Lena, please, don’t cry…” she dried a teardrop with her thumb.

“Sorry, it’s just…I had never felt so close to anyone in my whole life,” Lena bit her lower lip and dropped her gaze; she felt a bit embarrassed about everything she was confiding to Kara, who was looking tenderly at her, “You are very especial to me.”

A fluttering feeling came alive in Kara’s stomach. The young Luthor wasn’t the only one who was moved.

“You also matter a lot to me, Lena.”

TO BE CONTINUED


	11. Chapter 11

With a titanic effort, Lena succeeded in escaping Kara’s gaze and turned to face the glass door that led to the balcony in her office.

“How about we go outside to breathe some fresh air?” she asked, breaking the silence.

It was more a plea than a suggestion; she urgently needed it. She didn’t know how much longer she could withstand having Kara so close and do nothing about it otherwise.

“All right,” Kara accepted.

Lena took a jacket she had earlier placed on a hanger and put it over her shoulders to fight off the cold. Kara followed her closely until they rested against the railing outside. The young Luthor dedicated her a brief look and then her green gaze rested on the nighty landscape before them. She felt the urge to correspond to the trust Kara had showed her that night, so she started talking.

“When I was adopted by the Luthors when I was four…” Kara turned to look at her; Lena’s gaze was lost somewhere on the horizon, “Lex was who gave me the warmest welcome. My father wasn’t a bad man, but he was too cold and strict for a girl my age,” Lena smiled sadly, “So the time I spent with Lex was the best time of those days.”

“You told me something like that a while ago, when I came to L-Corp after I wrote my first article about you,” Kara remembered.

“It’s true,” Lena answered with a smile to turn to look at the city again, “What I didn’t tell you was that my father died when I only was thirteen, and my dearest mother sent me to a boarding school in Ireland because, according to her, it would be good for me, just like it proved to be for Lex years before,” Lena took a deep breath, “I know that what she actually wanted was to get rid of me…I was a nuisance, so after my father died she didn’t need the obligation to keep me in her house…My mother wouldn’t win the Mother of the Year award,” she joked.

“I’m so sorry,” Kara assured, laden with sadness. Lena thanked her for her words with a light smile and kept talking.

“You know? The boarding school wasn’t so bad, at first. Everybody wanted to be my friend, after all my family was rich and powerful, but then…Lex began to show his true colors, and them all turned their backs on me. But the desertion that hurt the most was Veronica’s.”

“Veronica…Veronica Sinclair?” Kara remembered what Lena told her that afternoon she asked for her help to find the woman’s fight club.

“The same. When she already was at the boarding school she took a liking to the nickname ‘Roulette,’ she…She made me believe that I was important to her but it was just an act she put up to enter the most exclusive social circles.”

“But she recently contacted you again, and she invited you to her club’s events,” Kara indignantly opined.

“What sort of relationship did they have at the boarding school?” the Kryptonian silently wondered, “Is Roulette maybe trying to get it back? Well, she better don’t hurt Lena again…Oh Rao, am I jealous?” she thought frowning.

“Of course she did: now that I’m regenerating the Luthor family name I am a rich and influential woman again, and Veronica loves that…As I just said, self-interest purely,” Lena sighed and lowered her gaze, contemplating her hands resting on the railing, “I guess that, in reality, I have never mattered to anyone.”

Kara placed her hand over Lena’s, making her shake a little. She wasn’t used to physical contact or spontaneous gestures of affection.

“Until now,” Kara assured with a warm smile, fully understanding the reaction of the young Luthor.

“Until now…” Lena repeated in a soft voice, looking at her with her eyes shining.

“Kara…I can’t see you just as a friend,” she thought internally, “If you knew how I feel about you, would you be lost to me?”

To regain her composure, Lena kept telling her story and described the Kryptonian how, the moment people turned their backs on her, she became more and more withdrawn, alienating herself from social life and turning herself over her studies to turn into a solitary young woman. Time later, when she came back to Metropolis to study at the university, her brother Lex had become completely lost in his madness against Superman, thus ruining the family business Luthor Corp and everything that carried their last name. On those days, Lena tried to talk some sense into her brother but, after many failures, she came to accept that Lex had been lost to his delirium, that he would never be the same caring fifteen-year-old that so warmly greeted her into his family. Losing Lex was a hard blow that left the young Luthor devastated.

Lena finished her university studies at the top of her year, and she even got several doctorates, but she was still isolated from the city’s social life and her friends were conspicuous by their absence. Not even her mother, Lilian Luthor, was able to show some affection for her academic achievements, making her always feel inadequate, no matter how much Lena exerted herself. When Superman took Lex to jail and he was tried for his numerous crimes, Lilian’s indifference got stronger and Lena took the determination to dedicate all of her energy to the only thing that remained: the family’s business. So, she moved to National City to start from scratch and show the world that not all Luthor were the same, re-baptizing the company as L-Corp. And then she met Kara Danvers and a brilliant light entered her life after years of darkness.

Lena’s words strengthened the image that Kara had already created of her. Lena was a good woman, though tormented by the lack of love on her mother’s part and the murderous madness of her brother who kept on her shoulders the responsibility to redirect and lead a big company all alone, without any family or friends that supported her. She admired her so. Even though she had never received any sort of support or encouragement, Lena had always been true to her principles, doing good to others. She felt the urge to infuse her with some warmth and hope, to pamper her, to make her feel loved for once in her life. She deserved it so.

“I have always felt alone,” the young Luthor whispered. 

And then, Kara couldn’t contain herself any longer. Seeing her so vulnerable made her desire to protect her stronger than anything else. She encircled her waist with her arms, below her jacket, and he tenderly embraced her.

“You are not alone anymore. You have me,” she whispered in her ear, making her shiver.

“I know,” Lena sighed back, returning her hug.

The jacket fell to the floor, but Lena didn’t mind; Kara’s body gave her all the warmth she needed.

After some time sharing heartbeats and even breathings, they lightly parted. Lena had her hands over Kara’s shoulders, who in turn kept hers around the young Luthor’s waist.

“This is the second time we hug today,” Lena said, smiling with a hint of a blush.

“It is,” Kara admitted with a wide smile while she averted her gaze, yet without freeing her from her arms.

Lena also didn’t make a move to escape her position. When focused her gaze again, she began to ascend slowly. She first found Lena’s generous cleavage, and her heart began beating faster. Then, the snowy skin of her neck, temptingly adorned by a beauty spot. Finally, her glorious face, her seductive red lips which she was just biting, and her beautiful green eyes that were looking intently at her and seemed to be calling for her. Lena had never been especially subtle with her gestures, but Kara had needed time and a journey to another world to realize what was happening between them and what she felt for her. 

She remembered the words by the other Lena: it was happening what had already happened on Earth-40. But she wouldn’t let things unravel exactly the same; she wouldn’t Lena take the first step again: this time it was her turn. In front of her eyes it was the fantastic woman she had met while she accompanied Clark, the woman who had become her friend, who had betrayed her own mother to do what was right…The woman who had stolen her heart, and she needed to let her know.

Kara’s hands abandoned Lena’s hips and ran over her neck with a caress until they delicately cradled her face. The young Luthor kept silent, fearing the moment would be lost if she dared to utter a word. Her mind, however, was abuzz with her thoughts.

“Kiss me, please,” she pleaded to herself while her pulse sped up.

Kara inclined her face to hers, unhurriedly, and Lena knew what was about to happen. She longed for it, fervently. She almost couldn’t believe her biggest whish since they met was going to become a reality. The Kryptonian could felt Lena’s heart beating in a frantic cadence, even her eyes where shining with a special tinge, until she finally closed them, inviting her to come even closer. That was enough to take the plunge. Lena felt the same as she did.

When their lips grazed, they both felt a sudden jolt in their stomachs that extended over their bodies. Lena’s heart wasn’t alone in beating a thousand of miles per hour. Even so, Kara tried to contain herself, mindful of her strength. She gave soft caresses to Lena’s mouth, and she returned each and every one of them with her arms around her neck. In a moment of bravery, Lena captured Kara’s lower lip between her own, stealing a weak moan from her. The Kryptonian, seeking a way to get even, caressed her flushed cheeks and neck with the tips of her fingers while she kept kissing her, making the young Luhor tremble and purr deliciously.

Kara slowly separated from her lips and contemplated how Lena drowsily opened her eyes. They were looking at each other, smiling, feeling their bodies…And they didn’t need to say anything to know it had been the best kiss in their lives. Lena got on her toes, seeking Kara’s lips once more. Her smile got bigger and she again circled her waist. However, something made Kara to lean slightly backwards. Lena, uneasy, looked into her eyes seeking an answer.

“Somebody is crying for help,” Kara seriously informed her while she freed her from her embrace.

“You must go, then,” Lena immediately told her.

Kara nodded and, in less than a blink of an eye, Lena had Supergirl before her, who dedicated her a last smile and flew away to a great speed. The young Luthor followed her with her eyes until she disappeared from her sight. Then, she kneeled to take Kara’s civilian clothes from the floor, letting her own jacked abandoned there. She put the checkered shirt over her shoulders and breathed in its perfume: it smelled like Kara.  
XXXXXX

 

That night, Lena slept better than in a long time. Her mind gifted her with beautiful dreams in which she replayed her kiss with Kara time and time again. When the alarm rang at seven in the morning, she stretched out and sat on her bed. She took a deep breath, trying to assimilate what had transpired the night before. When she moved her right hand, she grazed some piece of clothing and she turned to take a look. It was Kara’s shirt, a little ruffled after spending the whole night in Lena’s bed. She smiled, thinking that she should iron it before returning it to her, because Kara could ask what had happened.

She left the bed thinking when she would see her again. She went to the window and opened the curtains to greet the first rays of the sun that morning and something caught her attention. When she recognized the white plumeria flower stuck to the glass with a piece of adhesive tape, she almost began to cry. She hastily opened the window to take it, along with a little piece of paper that had also been left.

Good morning, Lena. Have you slept well? You looked really comfortable when I saw you last night, so I didn’t want to wake you up. Are you busy today? I still haven’t left and I’d like to show you the DEO, where I work with my sister and friends. Could you come? I want to see you. 

Did she really need to ask? Kara would never change: of course she could. She had two meetings programmed for that day, to tell the truth, but surely Jess could help with rearranging her agenda. She was filled with enthusiasm; Kara was still in National City and wanted to see her. She walked giving little jumps to the door of her bedroom and then she saw her reflection on the mirror. Her hand reached for her lips, remembering the Kryptonian’s kisses once again.

“How should I greet you when I see you next?” she whispered, nervous.  
XXXXXX

 

Kara read for the fourth time the WhatsApp message Lena had just sent her.

Good morning, Kara. Thank you so much for the flower. Truth is I slept wonderfully. I’d love to visit the DEO and to see you before you return to Erth-40 even more.

Kara cartwheeled in the air while giving little screams of happiness. She then made it to Alex’s apartment; she needed to tell her what had happened. She stopped by the balcony, floating three feet over the floor and carefully knocked on the glass panel.

“Alex? Is Maggie with you? Are you decent?” she asked, “I need to talk to you about something.”

“Is that your sister?” Maggie rasped with her eyes half closed.

“I fear so…” Alex muttered, “Shouldn’t she be at CatCo first thing in the morning?”

A few minutes later, the couple was seated by the kitchen bar, coffee mugs in hand. Kara didn’t want to have a seat; she was too nervous to keep still.

“Go on, Little Danvers: you have us on edge,” Maggie encouraged her. Kara’s babbling made her speak again, “Or should I leave you alone?”

“No, it doesn’t matter; I’m sure she’ll tell you as soon as I leave,” Kara accused, “And you know, I think it’s all right if the three of us are here together,” she added, remembering the nice conversations she had shared with Alex and Maggie from Earth-40.

“What did you want to tell me, Kara?” Alex inquired with a hint of worry, “Is it about the parallel world?”

“No, not at all…Or maybe, I don’t know,” Kara rambled on.

“Kara, just breathe. What happened?”

“It’s nothing bad, I swear!” she exclaimed with a smile.

“Your sister is a little bit hyper today, is she always like this in the mornings?” Maggie asked while looking at Alex, who just shaked her head negatively, “She looks like an overexcited puppy.”

“Hey! Who are you calling a dog?” Kara complained with a frown, making Alex and Maggie laugh.

“Your current state has something to do with Lena Luthor?” Alex inquired with a mischievous smile.

“Uh…Well…Yes…” Kara admitted, lowering her eyes.

“Well, at least we got something,” Maggie joked.

Alex playfully smacked her on the arm. She knew how difficult it was for Kara to talk about her feelings in contrast to how daring she could be to act about them.

“Yesterday I paid a visit to her to L-Corp after the event her company held,” Kara elaborated, “And I confessed her my secret: that I am Kara Danvers and Supergirl.”

“You what?!” Alex exclaimed.

“But you don’t have to worry: we can trust Lena, she’ll never tell anyone, I’m sure,” Kara hastily explained.

“I hope you’re right, because if she does she would put us danger, and you the first of all, Kara,” Alex sentenced.

Her sister approached her and took her hand affectionately.

“I know you will never stop behaving as the big sister that you are and I love so much, but you have to trust me and my decisions. I know Lena is on our side, and I…”

“You…?” Alex raised her eyebrows, urging her to continue.

“I feel something very strong for her,” she revealed. Maggie smiled, “Last night we spoke for hours, and then…” Alex gas giving her undivided attention, “Then I kissed her, and she kissed me back, and I felt butterflies in my stomach, and I’m dying to see her again!” she declared, once more agitated.

“So, are you together now?” Alex asked with a smile, “Is she your girlfriend?”

“Well…I don’t know…” Kara pursed her lips, “I had to go help somebody and we spoke no more, but I asked her to meet me today and she accepted.”

“You should take this chance and talk to her,” Maggie suggested before taking a sip of coffee.

“I guess I should…” Kara muttered, “Well, I’ll see you later at the DEO,” she said goodbye before flying out of the balcony.

“You owe me thirty bucks,” Maggie sentenced.

“Dammit, how did you know they would kiss the second time they met? You barely know her,” Alex moaned.

“It sufficed seeing Lena last afternoon and knowing what you told me of Kara,” Maggie assured, “It was as clear as day, but you’re still too inexperienced when it comes to the matters of the heart, Danvers.” 

“Oh, yeah? You said otherwise last night, Sawyer,” Maggie laughed and searched for her lips to give her girlfriend a passionate kiss.  
XXXXXX

 

“Good morning, Jess!” Lena greeted with energy.

“Good morning, Miss Luthor,” her loyal secretary greeted back.

“Come to my office,” Lena asked, “I need to check my agenda.”

Jess followed her and took a seat. Lena smiled at her from the executive chair. That the young Luthor was a beautiful woman held no room for debate, but on that day she looked more than beautiful: she looked radiant.

“I see you are especially happy today. Did you get a good night’s sleep?” she asked with interest, since she knew the problems her boss had to get some sleep.

“To tell the truth, I did sleep well, and I woke up even better,” Lena answered remembering the flower and Kara’s note.

“I am very glad, Miss Luthor.”

“Thank you, Jess…Tell me, what time where today’s meetings scheduled at?”   
XXXXXX

 

“Good morning, Miss Grant.”

“Kara…Is something the matter?” Cat asked while looking at her over the lenses of her glasses.

“Supergirl told me she is thinking of publicly thanking Lena Luthor for what she did during the Medusa Virus crisis.”

“Oh…I see that even our superheroine has taken a liking to that woman,” Cat observed with some mistrust.

“Supergirl wants National City to know the truth,” Kara explained, “That thanks to Lena’s intervention the virus could be neutralized and her mother arrested.”

“I think that’s only fair,” Car accepted repositioning her glasses, “And I believe you want to cover that story.”

“I would love to.”

“All right; Supergirl told you, after all,” she said with a smile: it was easy for anyone to tell themselves anything, “Talk to Snapper and get to work.”

“Yes, Miss Grant,” Kara exclaimed with a smile.

Once she was alone again, Cat remover her glasses and sighed. Kara’s insistence on Lena Luthor began to seem excessively vehement to her. Was she missing something?

Kara couldn’t stop smiling; she had laid the first stone. She wouldn’t allow Lena to be misjudged because of her family name any longer, not when she was one of the best people she had ever met. Lena deserved to receive the same recognition her alter-ego on Earth-40 was enjoying. If the public support by Supergirl could help things for the better, she wouldn’t hesitate to give it to her. 

After having lunch with Eve and James and discussing the points of the article about Supergirl and Lena Luthor with Carr, Kara began to check her watch much more frequently. She hadn’t told Alex anything because she surely would have tried to make her change her opinion. Kara wanted to share a lot of things with Lena, not just her secret, but also the place where she spent so much time watching over the security of the planet, even her friends and her family. She wanted to give her that warm and affectionate world she had never known.

She checked her watch once more. She was only fifteen minutes away to see her again and– to kiss her again? She felt something stirring in her stomach and shaked her head to clear those thoughts that wanted to invade her mind.

“Would you let me take you flying to the DEO?” she asked herself amusedly, “I know you hate flying…What are you doing right now?”

Kara closed her eyes, focusing all of her attention on Lena, on her cardiac rhythm that she knew so well, on her breathing…And she ended up hearing her, although hearing her scream wasn’t what she was expecting. What was happening? Startled by fear, Kara left CatCo in a flash, flying with all her might towards Lena Luthor’s apartment.

TO BE CONTINUED


	12. Chapter 12

EARTH-38

“Don’t you come any closer!” Lena screamed.

 

Kara abruptly landed on the rooftop terrace of the apartment, shattered the glass door to pieces and broke through the wall of the room she knew she would find Lena thanks to her voice.

“Don’t touch her!” the Kryptonian bellowed.

It took a few moments for her to understand she was in the bathroom of the main bedroom of the apartment. There she found just Lena, who was showing her face through the bathtub’s curtain, hair wet and sporting an expression of fear on her face, surely due to her abrupt entrance. 

“Kara?!” she chocked.

“Lena…” Kara whispered in surprise, keeping her gaze fixated on her direction for longer than necessary, “I’m sorry, I didn’t see anything!” she added, moving her arms to and fro and keeping herself from looking at her again.

“Of course you didn’t, I’m covering myself with the curtain…” suddenly her eyes got as big as saucers and her cheeks flushed, “Wait, did you use your X-ray vision?” 

“Please forgive me, it’s something instinctive, I did it to protect you, I wasn’t trying to look at you…” Kara kept excusing herself, completely embarrased.

Lena couldn’t help a smile creeping out at the sight of Supergirl behaving so.

“Well, it was worth it, if only to see the Girl of Steel in such a predicament,” she laughed it off.

Kara pursed her lips. Even though she didn’t regret taking a peek, she hadn’t really seen so much. But it had been enough to wish for more.

“Since you’re here, do me a favor and kill it,” Lena begged.

“Kill who…? Kara asked with a frown.

“That enormous and hairy spider!” she exclaimed while pointing at her towel, “I just panic whenever I see one!” she exclaimed with a look of utter disgust.

“Hey, just like Ron Weasley in Harry Potter,” Kara compared with a smile, “C’mon, little one, you are not welcomed here.”

The Kryptonian put her hands together forming a cup, forcing the animal to jump inside. She disappeared in a couple of seconds and when she came back her hands where once more empty.

“I left her in a park nearby, it won’t attack you again,” she joked with a wide smile.

“Don’t mock me,” Lena complained with a pout. She then smiled, “Can you get a towel for me?”

“But you have this one.”

“I don’t want this one, that thing has touched it.” 

Kara shook her head negatively. The whole situation had been a surprise, although she was immensely thankful that Lena hadn’t been a victim to a real attack. She followed her instructions and brought her a clean towel from a cupboard. Before Kara could exit the bathroom, Lena had placed it around her body and gotten out of the bathtub. The Kryptonian began to get antsy again and she remained completely still to the spot. 

“That’s it, thank you. You can now get out of the bathroom and wait for me while I get dressed,” Lena announced with satisfaction.

“Yes, of course, sorry,” Kara turned on her back and walked to the living room.

Everything had happened so fast that Lena hadn’t had the time to think. Now, while she got dressed, she reflected on their encounter. Her cheeks felt a little hot when she remembered that Kara had seen her using her X-ray vision. What had she seen, exactly? She wasn’t about to ask her, that was out of the question. On the other hand, they hadn’t even greeted each other, so the problem of how to exactly proceed on that matter still remained there. She wanted Kara to kiss her again, but she had come to know her a little, so she surely would be embarrassed about what had just taken place for her to easily trespass on her personal space. All of a sudden, she smiled sideways and called her from her bedroom.

“Kara, could you come for a moment?” 

“Of course,” the Kryptonian walked to the main bedroom and remained at the door opening, paralyzed by the vision before her eyes.

Lena had left her hair loose and had chosen a becoming cream-colored dress with a bell-shaped skirt and a square neckline that just allowed a slightly more generous opening due to the position of her body. The young Luthor was standing near the edge of the bed, somewhat inclined forward with her leg over the mattress.

“Tell me Kara, do I need a permission of some sort to access the DEO?”

Kara was unable to give an answer to that question. Her blue eyes were following the movements of her hands, which currently were sliding a dark stocking upwards over her skin, just until they reached her thigh.

“Kara?” Lena insisted, amused and fully conscious of the effect she was causing her.

“Uh…? It’s perfect…You don’t need anything else…” she suddenly became stiff, finally reacting, “I mean the permission!” she hurriedly exclaimed. Lena just laughed.

“I’m stupid…” Kara reprimanded herself internally, “But when I see her like this I just can’t think clearly.”

“How I’d love that you would devour me with those lips the way you do with your eyes,” Lena thought in turn.

“Where are your shoes?” Kara asked, thus making her abandon her daydream.

“Over there,” she pointed with her hand.

In the blink of an eye the Kryptonian had already took them and kneeled before Lena.

“May I?” she asked while holding a shoe on her hand.

“Of course…” Lena allowed, surprised by her kindness.

She took ahold of Kara’s strong shoulders, brushing her cape, and she raised a foot and then the other while the Kryptonian gently put her shoes on them.

“Finished,” she announced, and she stood up to her full height, only a few inches away from Lena, who sighed when she felt the heat emanating from her body.

“Thank you…” she managed to say with effort. Never before had been so close to Supergirl, well, to Kara in her Supergirl persona. Her heart began to beat faster, just when had she lost control? Her only solace was knowing her plan had been effective: Kara had reacted to her.

“I left my clothes here last night, didn’t I?”

Lena felt as though somebody had thrown cold water on her.

“Yes…” she answered, lowering her eyes.

“Well, I’ve been at your home for a while now and we still haven’t greeted each other properly,” the Kryptonian added, making Lena search for her blue eyes. She found them, and also the most beautiful smile she had ever seen. That woman was going to become the end of her.

“It’s true,” Lena admitted, and closed the distance between their faces, “Hello, Kara.”

“Hello, Lena,” the Kryptonian greeted back just before kissing her.

They moved their lips, slowly, taking pleasure in the sensations those caresses brought. When they opened their eyes, they were smiling, besotted.

“Do you dare to try and fly with me to the DEO premises?” Kara suggested with a soft tone.

“I’m a bit afraid of heights, and I absolutely dislike flying,” Kara forced a resigned smile, “But if it’s with you, it can’t be so bad,” she added, making the Kryptonian’s face lighten up.

“I promise to fly slowly,” she assured, thrilled, “You just hold tight onto me.”

“That won’t be a problem,” Lena declared.

The young Luthor took her handbag, she put its strap over her shoulder and wore a coat. Kara crouched down a little and took her into her arms, effortlessly. Lena out her arms around her neck, hiding her face there when she remarked they were moving vertically. She was afraid, and that kept her from enjoying the experience, because flying on the arms of Supergirl must be an experience.

“What should I do with your clothes?” she asked without raising her head from its position on Kara’s neck, who smiled in turn: she knew by her vital constants that she was afraid, so she reduced her speed.

“Could you keep it for the time being?”

“Of course.”  
XXXXXX

 

The imposing DEO premises towered before them, and Kara took advantage of the last few minutes they would be alone to tell Lena something while they levitated over the entrance she normally used as Supergirl.

“Only Alex knows what happened between us. And, well, her girlfriend.”

“Maggie, isn’t it?” Lena pointed out.

“Yes…I would like for things to go on like this, at least until I remain here permanently,” Kara explained, “I don’t want you to be disturbed in my absence…My friends are good people, but they can be a little bit annoying. I prefer them to know about us when we are together to tell them.”

“We’ll tell them whenever you want, Kara,” Lena assured her with an understanding smile.

“Thanks, Lena,” she thanked her while she delicately deposited her on the floor.

“Welcome!” Alex exclaimed while she approached them alongside Winn.

“Hello, Miss Luthor,” he politely greeted her.

“Please, it’s just Lena: I think our cooperation at my party allows us to be on first name basis,” she joked, making him smile. Kara was also sporting a smile at the sight of her getting along with them: she felt so proud of her, and very fortunate for having her at her side. 

The little group entered the DEO premises and somebody else approached them.

“Hello, Kara. You’ve got a moment?” Mon-El asked her.

Kara moved a few feet away from Lena and looked at him with confusion. 

“Ever since you went to Earth-1 to help out Barry we haven’t had the chance to really talk.”

“I’m sorry, Mon-El, but right now it is impossible: I came with Lena and I’d like to show her all this.”

“All right, no problem, whenever you find the time…” he answered, disappointed.

Kara knew what the Daxamite wanted to talk about, and she didn’t feel like facing that conversation at the moment. When she finally resolved everything concerning Earth-40 she would make sure to put everything related to her romantic life in its right place on her own world. She would officially introduce Lena as her girlfriend and explain to Mon-El that she couldn’t reciprocate his feelings.

Suddenly, they heard some voice. It belonged to J’onn J’onzz, who didn’t seem to be very happy.

“Kara, I told him this morning and he didn’t react so good, as you can see,” Alex explained.

“Hello, J’onn,” Kara greeted with a smile.

“I’m sorry, but Miss Luthor is a civilian: she can’t be here.”

“What?” Kara exclaimed.

“It’s not a problem, Kara, I should go,” Lena tried to calm things a little. The last thing she wanted was to create a problem for Kara.

“Of course it is! This civilian saved your life, J’onn, and Mon-El’s, and M’gann’s…And the lives of each and every one alien in National City. I thing she has done more than enough to earn her right to be here.” Lena felt she was melting inside when she saw Kara defending her so vehemently.

“Kara’s right. Without her, we wouldn’t have been able to neutralize the Medusa Virus,” Winn admitted.

“Or arrest Lillian Luthor,” Alex provided.

J’onn frowned after listening to his subordinates. They were right. But he was the main responsible for the DEO, and words didn’t suffice him. She looked at Lena for a few moments and he used his telepathic powers to read her mind.

“I am sorry. My apologies, Miss Luthor,” he invited her to the main room with a gesture of his arm, “Welcome.”

“Thank you.”

He then turned to Kara and smiled. The Kryptonian looked back at him confused, but it didn’t take long for her to understand that J’onn had just used his powers and that, probably, he had discovered the nature of her relationship with Lena Luthor. She returned his smile: she knew she could trust his discretion.

“This place is incredible,” Lena exclaimed when she saw all of the operating screens and the advanced technology they used.

“It is, isn’t it?” Winn cooed excitedly, “Working here it’s like a dream.”

“And you haven’t visited my lab yet,” Alex invited her.

“But your lab is so small!” her sister pointed out.

“I’ll give you that: it’s not really big but there you can find the latest biotechnology advances,” she proudly announced while placing her hands on her hips.

“Really?” At this point, Lena was even more excited than Winn, “May I see it?”

“Of course,” Alex assured.

“Alex, I would love if you trained Lena to learn to defend herself,” Kara suddenly asked, “We talked about it, and I’d be more at ease if she knew some technique.”

“It will be my pleasure,” her sister agreed.

“Thanks, Alex,” Lena said with a smile.

“Then, shall we go to my lab?” Alex asked.

“I want to show her some new tracking algorithms I created!” Winn complained.

“Easy people, there’s time to show her everything,” Kara laughed.

Mon-El observed them in the distance. The way Kara looked after Lena Luthor attracted his attention. Was there something other than friendship between them?

“Don’t lose your time, Mon-El. There are plenty other fish in the sea,” J’onn exclaimed while he passed him by.

After the DEO tour, Kara told Alex she needed to go back to the parallel world. She bid her goodbye and she also confessed to her that she wanted to spend her last minutes on Earth-38 with Lena. Her sister gave her a strong hug, encouraging her to do so: nobody knew as well as she did what it meant to love somebody so strongly.  
XXXXXX

 

Kara landed on Lena’s rooftop terrace with her in her arms. The flight back to the apartment had been a bit less traumatic for the young Luthor.

“I must return to Eerth-40,” the Kryptonian announced with a hint of sorrow.

Lena sighed, crestfallen. She then turned to Kara, seeking physical contact, and took her hand. Kara smiled and gave her a tiny squeeze.

“Please, wait just a bit more. I’d like to speak a little with you…If you want to, that is.”

Kara answered by leading her by the hand and opening the glass door for her.

“Go on, Miss,” she invited her to access the living room.

Lena let go of her hand and walked to a cabinet.

“Would you like something to drink?” she offered.

“Some water would be fine, thank you.”

“You never drink alcohol?” Lena curiously asked.

“Human-made alcohol doesn’t affect me,” she confided with a smile.

“Really? Remind me that the day I challenge you to drink some shots,” Lena joked, making her laugh.

“That day I’ll get my hands on some alien alcohol: that sure does affect me.”

“Interesting,” Lena affirmed while raising an eyebrow.

“I remember you helped yourself with a glass of water the day I met you at your office in L-Corp,” Lena gave her a glass.

“I remember that day, too. You made quite an impression on me,” the young Luthor confessed.

“Really?”

“Of course: it’s not every day that Supergirl in her civilian cover pays me a visit,” she joked.

“So, you knew since the beginning?” Kara asked, stunned.

“I wasn’t a hundred percent sure, but…Yes, I thought about it when I turned to look at you and saw your blue eyes behind your glasses.”

“You’re incredible. If you never saw me as Kara Danvers…”

“I’ll take it as a compliment,” Lena replied smiling.

They sat on the couch and left their glasses on a little table nearby.

“What?”

“Nothing, it’s just I find it amusing having Supergirl sitting on her cape on my couch.”

“I can change clothes in just a second,” Kara suggested.

“No, you’re perfect like just like this,” Lena assured her. Kara smiled at that, “Cat Grant gave me a call after I finished lunch.”

“Really?” Lena nodded.

“She told me CatCo wants to interview me about the Medusa issue; that Kara Danvers had insisted on it, that Supergirl wanted to publicly thank me…And I want to thank you for everything you did for me today.”

“But I did nothing special,” Kara tried to play it down.

“Of course you did. Ensuring I receive public recognition for what I did, taking me to the DEO where you work alongside your friends…Saving me from a hideous, hairy spider,” she added while she chuckled, “Thank you so much, Kara. Especially for making me feel like I’m a part of your life,” Lena leaned a little over her and kissed her cheek. 

“No, thank you, Lena. For being just who you are. You deserve the best…” now it was Kara’s turn kiss the young Luthor’s cheek.

“You are the best…” Lena whispered, only to kiss the corner of her mouth afterwards.

“Please, don’t go before I can feel you again,” she thought.

“Oh Rao, you’re irresistible to me,” Kara thought at the same time.

Her hand reached Lena’s cheek, feeling the warmth emanating from within, and delicately kissed her lips. Lena didn’t miss a beat to kiss her back, slowly, tenderly and full of passion. When they separated to breath, they rested there, foreheads together and eyes closed.

“Is this…Real?” Lena pronounced in a touched voice, choked with emotion, “I had already resigned myself to be just your friend, Kara.”

Lena had begun to feel more than just friendship for Kara before she traveled to Earth-1, but she had remained silent for fear of losing her only friend.

“Never give up, Lena: you can do whatever you ever imagine. I believe in you.”

“Oh, Kara…”

Lena jumped over her, hungry for love and desire. The Kryptonian wasn’t the least reticent about it, and she received her mouth and her hands with equal enthusiasm. The brushes and caresses by their lips intensified by the moment, and tongues soon joined. Their hand’s weren’t standing idly by: they roamed over necks, hips, backs, arms…Lena found especially arousing kissing Supergirl; she thought how her mother would react if she saw them at that very moment. Her smile got wider and her courage boosted; she wasn’t afraid to face her anymore, or her own feelings for that matter: Kara Danvers drove her crazy in all her versions. Encouraged, she stood up from the couch until she ended up sitting on her lap. Kara could feel her weight, her body heat…And then she remembered that, on that same couch although in a parallel world, she had kissed Lena-40. Suddenly, she went still. Lena looked worriedly at her, regretting her forwardness; maybe she had gone too far.

“Is something wrong, Kara? Are you all right?” she fearfully asked.

“I’m more than just all right,” the Kryptonian assured, “Because I am with you,” she added with an honest smile. She finally was free; she finally was with whom she really wanted to be; she finally could kiss and touch her Lena, and every second she didn’t was a second she lost.

She embraced her by the waist, and realized that, from that position, her eyes remained at the same height of her breasts, slightly exposed though the straight cut of Lena’s dress. She swallowed. She felt her blood pumping faster through her veins, driven by her burning desire for that woman. Then, Lena placed her hands on her shoulders, getting her attention. She didn’t utter a word, but she started following the ‘S’ of her chest with her finger, slowly. The two of them were following the movements of her hand with their eyes; Kara was breathing with much difficulty and she knew Lena also was very aroused, since her heart was beating rather quickly.

Once Lena finished tracing the ‘S,’ Kara took charge and one of her hands ascended from her hip, to her side, until she rested it against her cheek. She caressed it with her thumb, losing herself in her red lips, so intense, so tempting, so irresistible, like everything that was Lena. She couldn’t help herself, and she moved her finger until softly resting it against them. Lena didn’t cease looking into her eyes for a moment, intently, while she captured her finger with her mouth and began caressing it with her lips and the tip of the tongue. Kara’s breathing became much more audible and agitated. She moved her finger away and placed her hands over Lena’s hips again, slowly ascending until both of her hands almost reached her breasts: she was itching to feel them, but common sense still kept hold on her. Lena perfectly knew of her intentions and how much respect she harbored for her; she was dying of love for her and was absolutely eager to convince her to cross the line.

“Please Kara, spend the night here tonight…” she begged in a seductive whisper while she cradled her face with her hands.

Her request was the last straw. Something seemed to explode inside of her, something unquenchable and unstoppable that she had never felt for anyone before and that was rapidly spreading over her body. However, Kara fought against her impulses with all her might, tensing her muscles, trying to keep her arms still. She knew what Lena wanted, and by Rao, she wanted to give it to her. But that couldn’t be, not on that night, not before she reduced her powers, or she could hurt her. She had to move away from Lena before she was unable to stop herself; a minimal carelessness could prove to be disastrous to her fragile human body.

“I should go now…”

“As you wish…” Lena resignedly accepted, also a little humiliated by her rejection. She moved away from her and got up from the couch, tiding up a little the skirt of her dress, which had become a little rumpled. She felt stupid for offering herself to Kara that way after the Kryptonian’s reaction. Maybe she had seemed too forward for her, maybe she didn’t want her enough…Then, a pair of arms circled her body, startling her.

“Forgive me, Lena,” Kara muttered in her ear; she couldn’t allow her to think she didn’t want the same she did, “I am dying to be with you that way…” Lena shuddered, closing her eyes, “But I’m not like you, it’s dangerous. We need to find the right way…I don’t want to hurt you, I could never forgive myself.”

“Kara…”

The young Luthor held tightly her warm body. She couldn’t utter a word. Kara’s tenderness and consideration had disarmed her all together. The Kryptonian kissed her black hair and they rested a few minutes just like that, feeling their heartbeats and the silent promises of that intense embrace. 

When Kara loosened the contact, Lena searched her blue eyes.

“Please, come back to me soon,” she asked, her eyes watering.

“Whenever I am able to, I promise,” Kara exclaimed with determination in her voice.  
“Be very careful out there, Kara.”

The Kryptonian nodded with a smile. She then took her hand to her lips to place a kiss on it. Lena sobbed, touched, but she managed to keep the tears at bay. She didn’t want to make the situation more difficult for her. Making yet another effort, Kara let go of her hand and walked to the terrace. How difficult it had been freeing her from her arms and crossing the portal between the two worlds. How much it hurt to be far away from her again, now that they had finally been so close.

A few minutes later, Lena left the living room and went to the railing out in the terrace, lifting her green eyes towards the horizon.

“For you, I will wait all my life,” she whispered between the tears, knowing that Kara couldn’t hear her cry anymore.

END OF EARTH-38  
XXXXXX

 

“Good night, Lena.”

“Kara!” Lena exclaimed when she saw her go past the terrace’s glass door, “Was everything all right in your world? You look…Sad,” she worriedly observed.

“I am…And, at the same time, I couldn’t be happier,” Kara assured, making Lena frown, “I told Lena my secret, and she confessed me that she already knew.”

“You see?” Lena proudly announced, “We are very intelligent.”

Kara laughed and lowered her eyes.

“She also told me of her past…Her family, the Irish boarding school, her efforts to get Lex back and to get the family business off the ground when he ruined it…I guess you had similar experiences.”

“Very similar,” Lena sadly admitted.

“You both are incredible. I’ll never tire of saying it.”

“Thank you, Kara.”

“I said I talked with her, but I also kissed her, well, we also kissed…Several times, in fact.”

“But that is wonderful, Kara!” Lena excitedly cried, “She feels the same as you do!”

“Yes, this is why I am so happy…And why it was so difficult to leave her.”

Lena approached her and took her hand, giving it a little squeeze to infuse her with encouragement.  
“I know. It’s never easy to distance yourself from the person you love the most,” Kara thanked her gesture with a smile, “You know? I’ve been thinking, and I had my doubts, but seeing you like this has finally convinced me.”

“To do what?”

“I want to see my girlfriend,” Lena declared, “It’s been a while since I saw her; I was left in a very bad state after our last meeting, but I can’t give up, I don’t want to. I need to get her back, I know my Kara is still there. Why couldn’t we find happiness too?”

“I really like seeing you this optimistic, Lena.”  
XXXXXX

 

John Corben observed his boss while she expressed her opinion regarding the exalted xenophobic group that had caused a ruckus during the last event hosted by L-Corp and Supergirl.

“I really think that more men under my command could be useful. It’s plain to see that Cadmus needs refinement, and a leader to match. But I’ll talk about that later; now my priority is to resume our plan to destroy Supergirl once and for all.”

“Of course, Ma’am.” 

Lillian looked at the screen of her cellphone, and then spoke to her trusted man.

“She’s here. Please, go greet our guest.”

Corben inclined his head and exited the office.

A black haired young woman with enigmatic, electric-blue eyes walked down the ample hall while she took notice of every detail of the place. She loathed being there again but she couldn’t refuse, not when his father was being held hostage by those people and they threatened to kill him if she failed to fulfill every whim of that woman with that arrogant expression. Zatanna lived a happy life and relatively uneventful with his father, the great magician Giovanni Zatara. They made their living thanks to their magic shows and some petty thefts. She wasn’t by any means faultless, but she wasn’t a notorious criminal either. Until that damn woman had found the way to force her to submit to her and use her powers to her advantage. Zatanna had never used them to hurt somebody directly before, but this time the life of her father was at risk, so she had no way out and cursed those pendants to transform Supergirl into a monster.

FLASHBACK

“Please, don’t hurt him!” Zatanna begged.

“Zatanna, don’t give into their blackmail!”

“Nobody needs to get hurt. That’s not what I want,” Lillian Luthor assured, “I just need your help with something. I know you are a true magic user, not like your father, because you are a descendant from the Homo Magi on your mother’s side, the powerful and regrettably disappeared Sindella. I am well informed.”

“What do you want from me?” the young woman asked grinding her teeth.

“Your help.”

END OF FLASHBACK

Corben appeared before her eyes.

“You know the drill,” he said, “There are cameras everywhere: if you try anything funny we will give the order to kill your father.”

Zatanna looked at him silently, until she dedicated him a haughty smile. How she wished to beat his face into a pulp; his and that of his despicable boss. Corben walked to her, took her by the arm and urged her to walk beside him down those cold corridors towards the heart of the house.

FLASHBACK

“Tell me again what those pendants will do to Supergirl once they’re on her hands.”

“The pendants have been cursed so that only Kryptonians are affected by them. They make their darker side surface, they feed it. They are freed from their principles, remorse, honor, compassion and empathy…”

“Excellent! Good bye to all of their goodness,” Lillian laughed.

“The curse will also make her develop an addiction to it, addiction to that freedom without morals or limits of any kind, so that Supergirl won’t want to get rid of her own pendant voluntarily. Even if she knows.”

“Well, now what I need is for Supergirl to not do a discourtesy to her mother in law and just wear it. Whatever my daughter may do with hers is indifferent to me.” 

END OF FLASHBACK

Lillian smiled when she saw Zatanna before her. She had been a great ally, if only under duress. Her plan was to strip Supergirl from her goodness and make a dangerous monster that killed even innocent people of her. Then, the DEO would be forced to stop her no matter the price, even using green kryptonite and killing her where that necessary. That way, the world would finally see how dangerous the aliens were, even the most virtuous among them, and her daughter would be single again. What went without mention was that her worst enemy would be eliminated from the equation. 

But the plan was unsuccessful. Supergirl became dangerous, she knew by Lena herself, but the DEO could stop her before she killed anyone and they kept her alive in their premises. At least they hadn’t discovered yet what had changed her so, discarding the red kryptonite hypothesis since the pendant she was wearing the moment they captured her was made of silver and rubies, nothing strange or extraterrestrial, so they didn’t place any importance into it. 

Lillian decided to wait a little longer, but things didn’t worsen, quite on the contrary: they had changed for the better. Suddenly, the DEO found a new Supergirl from a parallel world, and everything seemed to return to its natural state once more. She waited yet for a few more days in case that Kryptonian returned to her world, but she had decided to stay on Earth-40, making things difficult for her. Time had come to act again.

“I did my part, now free my father,” Zatanna exclaimed.

“I am afraid that our deal will be extended for a little longer, Miss Zatara.”

“I did what you asked of me, and you said that it worked! I don’t understand, I don’t know what happened, but it’s not my fault,” she defended herself, “I know that Supergirl has recovered: I have seen her with my own eyes on TV and the press and I don’t understand, I swear my curse is permanent except if I lift it myself or somebody takes the pendant from her, and I know she wouldn’t allow that to happen.”

“Don’t worry, your curse worked just fine. It’s just they have replaced our sick Supergirl with another one from a different world, and this one is perfectly healthy. So, I need you to place a curse on her as well.”

“But…That woman isn’t even from our world. If she returns to hers in that state she could cause a great damage in both of them.”

“Don’t think of that. Better think of your father,” Lillian threatened, “So, can I count on you?”

“Yes…” Zatanna muttered, defeated.

“I want you to do it as soon as possible.”

 

“It’s better if I recite the enchantment this weekend. A full moon will happen then, so that will make the effect more powerful,” the young witch informed.

“All right, the weekend, then. On Monday I will pay a visit to my dear daughter.”

TO BE CONTINUED


	13. Chapter 13

When Kara’s day at CatCo was finally over she went back to Lena’s apartment, changed into her Supergirl costume, took her in her arms and flew to the DEO.

“I like seeing you like this. Smiling,” Kara said warmly while she carefully placed her on the floor.

“Thanks, Kara,” Lena answered back.

“Are you read to see her again?” the Kryptonian asked.

“I am now,” Lena assured her with a smile. She was afraid, but she was also hopeful. She couldn’t give up.

“Let’s go, then…” Kara invited her to access the premises.

Alex and Maggie greeted them. The detective still walked with the help of her crutches and kept that cheerful and easy-going attitude that Kara admired so.

“You were right, Danvers: Lena Luthor sure is stubborn,” she joked. Lena greeted her affectionately.

“Are you sure you want to go down there to see her, Lena?” the DEO agent asked.

“Yes, Alex. I want to see her,” Lena serenely replied.

Alex looked at Kara, who just shrugged while she sported an amused smile on her face.

“All right, you can go. But promise that you will leave as soon as the conversation turns sour,” Alex asked while she took her by the arms, “You know how my sister reacts, and I don’t want her to hurt you again.”

“I promise,” Lena assured her, and then proceeded to follow another agent who accompanied her to the elevator.

“Do you and Lena have the same concept of ‘sour conversation’?” Maggie asked while lifting her eyebrows. 

“I’m afraid we don’t,” Alex exclaimed, “This is why I’m going to ask Mon-El, who’s now in charge of the guard duty, to leave the communicator open. That way we’ll be able to listen what’s happening down there.”

“Don’t do that, Alex,” Kara suggested. The agent looked at her, frowning, “Give them some privacy. I’ll be alert: if they raise their voices or if I feel something’s wrong with Lena I’ll tell you right away.”

“Okay, but don’t hesitate to tell me whatever may happen: my sister is unpredictable and anything can happen. Anything at all,” Alex declared with sadness in her eyes.

“Don’t worry.”

“Danvers, shall we continue with my rehab?” Maggie asked.

“Yes, let’s go,” Alex approached her girlfriend and kissed tenderly on her temple. She walked beside her until they both disappeared round the corner.

“How are things going on Earth-38?” Winn’s voice asked.

Kara turned to look at him and began to tell him everything. J'onn J'onzz entered the room and the agents saluted him respectfully, Winn included.

“Hello, J’onn,” Kara greeted him.

“I hear she’s come to see Kara.”

“Yes, I think she needs it,” she admitted.

“I have no qualms against that. I just hope what happened the last time won’t happen again,” the Martian wished, “Agent Schott, have you finished the detection system I asked for?”

“Yes sir, I just finished a checkup.”

They both concentrated on Winn’s computer screen. Kara gave them her attention from time to time, since her senses came and went in search for Lena’s vitals. Everything was all right for the time being. Her heart was beating a little faster than usual, but that was completely understandable since she must be nervous because of the re-encounter.  
XXXXXX

 

“Are you sure of that, Alex?” Mon-El asked worriedly though the communicator. “All right.”

The Daxamite gave back his attention to Kara-40.

“You have a visit. I’m…I’m going to take a break,” he announced though gritted teeth.

“That’s fantastic! Just get you Daxamite ass out of my sight, pretty please,” she spat.

“I miss the old annoying and extremely correct Kara, she was a great friend,” Mon-El lamented.

“A Daxamite man showing appreciation and comradeship for a woman? Now, that is a sight,” Kara-40 laughed. Mon-El sighed resignedly and greeted Lena when she saw her.

“Be careful,” he advised her. Lena gave him a nod as an answer.

Kara-40 was coming and going inside her cell, but she stopped dead on her tracks when she caught sight of her.

“Lena…I wasn’t expecting to see you here,” she admitted.

“Why would you say that?”

“Because your last visit was a little…Uncomfortable for you.”

She wasn’t about to ask for forgiveness; she didn’t feel the need to. The pendant she wore, now hidden behind her black T-shirt, made her unable to feel remorse for her actions.

“Let’s forget about that, please,” Lena begged, “I won’t stop coming here to see you; you are my girlfriend…And I love you.”

“It’s been eleven days since last I saw you…” the Kryptonian began, “Eleven days that seemed like an eternity because you weren’t here with me. Did you know I asked Alex for a photo of you? But she didn’t want to bring me any.”

Kara-40 softly placed her hands over the glass panel. Lena ended the distance that separated them and placed hers on the other side.

“Forgive me, I should have come sooner but…”

“The only thing that matters is that you’re here now, Lena,” she pronounced in her most deep pitch, affecting the other woman.

“You don’t know just how much I miss you, Kara,” Lena confessed in a hopeful whisper.

“Of course I do, Lena. Because I feel the same…” she admitted while she pierced her with her blue eyes. Lena breathed deeply for a couple of times; she was getting flustered, “If I only could touch you once more…”

The young Luthor closed her eyes for a moment, never ceasing to smile. She longed for the same her girlfriend did. They were so close, with just a mere reinforced glass panel separating them. When she opened them again, she found Kara-40 staring at her lips, and she felt something inside of her. Her girlfriend searched for her beautiful green eyes again.

“Do you remember the night you tried on me the kryptonite bracelets for the first time?”  
“Uh?” she stammered, taken aback by the sudden turn in their conversation, but also delighted by it.

“At first I got a little dizzy, and you wanted to take them off because you thought you were hurting me,” Kara-40 smiled, making Lena smile in turn, “But we soon learned that it was just my body getting used to that new situation.”

“I remember…” Lena kept smiling.

“It’s just, those memories suddenly came to mind because I also feel here the kryptonite radiation. I feel just like…”

Kara-40 stopped her narration. Lena frowned, she wanted her to keep talking. The Kryptonian smiled: she had Lena just were she wanted her to be, and the poor thing hadn’t even noticed.

“Just like what, Kara?”

“Just when I was about to make love to you,” she whispered, never stopping to look into her eyes.

Lena shuddered. Her heart was beating faster and her breathing was slightly altered. She couldn’t just listen to those words from the mouth of her girlfriend and remain stoic. The hope to bring her back redoubled.

Kara searched for Lena’s vitals again and she got nervous when she felt her so agitated, so she focused her attention and listened for a few seconds.

“…That way I wasn’t afraid to kiss you as much as I wanted to, and I could just grab your thighs…”

Kara became stiff as a board, her cheeks flushed. She decided she had listened enough. Everything seemed to be going fine. Maybe too fine.

“You don’t know just how much I want to feel you like that again, Kara…” Lena confessed, overwhelmed.

“Then get me out of here and we’ll be together again, Lena…”

“But…”

“I will give you my caresses again, I will kiss you again…”

Lena was breathing with difficulty, she felt like she was short of breath. It would be so easy to introduce the code and open the door. It would be so easy to feel her skin again, her warmth…

“Go on, Lena. Open the door, free me…” Kara-40 insisted.

“Free you…?” Once more, sanity came back to Lena in the form of violent memories in which her girlfriend was the protagonist, “No…I can’t do that, Kara…”

“Why not? Don’t you miss my kisses, my hands…?”

“Of course I do, but…I can’t free you.”

“You won’t stop telling me how much you love me, but you don’t think twice when it comes to leaving me locked up in here. What kind of love is that?” Kara-40 began to lose her patience.

“Precisely because I love you so much I can’t let you out of here so that you commit atrocities. You couldn’t live with that afterwards.”

Kara-40 took a couple of steps back from the glass. She smiled down. She had seen Lena so eager and vulnerable that she had tried to manipulate her, taking advantage of the feelings the other woman harbored towards her. However, things hadn’t gone as planned. She cursed her luck. 

“You aren’t going to get me out of here, are you?”

“I am sorry. I can’t,” Lena admitted, her hands sliding down the glass.

“And I guess you’ll tell me that usurper form Earth-38 hasn’t got anything to do with your decision.”

“Of course she doesn’t.”

“I feel it hard to believe you, Lena,” Kara-40 had no intention to hold herself back, “Why else would you come here, if not to free me?”

“To see you!” Lena exclaimed, hurt.

“To see me locked up in here?” she accused without an ounce of pity.

“Kara…” the young Luthor remarked that her girlfriend was once more the cold and cruel woman she feared to face again so much. Her hope began to dissipate.

“It’s so easy for you to go on with your lives while I rot down here,” Kara-40 had begun to pace back and forth around her cell, “Especially for you, since you’ve found someone else to take my place.”

“Please, don’t start with that again,” Lena begged.

“Why? You don’t want to talk about her?” Kara-40 asked while she looked intently at her. In her blue eyes there wasn’t a trace of affection or desire left; only loathing, “Oh, but I do want to talk about her! Tell me, is she as good as I am in everything she does?”

“We are doing everything we can to fix this situation as soon as possible,” Lena defended herself.

“And in the mean-meantime you fill the void I left with her. The perfect plan.”

“Don’t say that. It’s not true,” the young Luthor had lost all of that initial optimism she had when she arrived to the DEO. Hard reality hit her once more.

“Who can really tell me you didn’t want to get rid of me since the beginning and that you orchestrated all of this as an excuse to remove me from the equation?” Kara-40 suggested with malice.

“That’s not true!” Lena indignantly cried, “You are the most important person in my life!” she confessed in an affected voice.

Kara focused her attention again, she needed to be sure that everything was going as smoothly as a few minutes before. Lena was still agitated, maybe even more now, but Kara felt something wasn’t quite all right. She focused on her sense of hearing and she caught some words that had little place within a nice or intimate conversation. She became alert and looked around her. She could just call Alex, but she didn’t want to interrupt Maggie’s rehabilitation, and that would surely embarrass Lena for not listening to her sister’s advice and just call her when things turned sour. Maybe it wasn’t necessary to come to that yet. She would go down there by herself, just to check Lena was all right. She said goodbye to J’onn and Winn with some excuse and she walked to the elevator.

“Please, Kara, you have to believe me!”

“I can’t believe your words,” Kara-40 said, “Because your actions show just the opposite.”

“I am doing what is best for you, even if you can’t understand it now.”

Lena’s words make the Kryptonian laugh.

“Now you talk to me like I’m a little girl?” she asked in a mocking tone, “Now, you’re not making much sense. Just a moment ago all you wanted was to have me between your legs…”

Those words made Lena feel humiliated. She had been so naïve, how could she ever believe she could bring her girlfriend back?

“You can’t deny it, am I right?” Kara-40 insisted, trying to break her girlfriend’s resolve, “Maybe my substitute doesn’t satisfy you completely,” she added, and Lena felt her vision blurring with the tears that were beginning to accumulate in her green eyes.

“Kara…” she muttered with profound sadness.

“Are you going to cry now?” she asked with a grimace.

“Enough!” Kara’s voice cried behind them, making them both turn so face her.

“Right on time! You finally deign yourself to appear before my eyes,” Kara-40 observed her exact copy intently, while she admitted internally just how much they looked alike.

“Kara, what are you doing here?” Lena asked, surprised.

“I felt things weren’t going quite all right.”

“I was starting to think that Supergirl from Earth-38 was nothing but a coward, too afraid to face a poor weakened and confined Kryptonian like me,” Kara-40 spoke, blatantly trying to irk her, “But now I see you came to rescue our damsel in distress.”

“I won’t play your little aggravation game,” Kara declared, “And I totally understand your dislike towards me.”

“Dislike?” Kara-40 smiled sideways, “That falls short to define what you elicit in me…And believe this: you can’t understand me.”

“Kara, I don’t think you being here is a good idea,” Lena worriedly said.

“I could say the same about you,” the Kryptonian replied.

“My, how beautiful! You two sure got along with each other!” Kara-40 clapped three times, getting them out of their private conversation, “You see, Lena? She has made a mighty fine work of substituting me as a heroine protecting everybody. She even has found the time to protect you from your evil girlfriend.”

“You’re just distorting things,” Kara exclaimed.

“Are you in a relationship, Supergirl-38?” Kara-40 asked.

Kara didn’t reply with words. Her uncomfortable expression was enough to make Kara-40 know her suspicion was correct, that she had somebody special in her life.

“How would you feel if, suddenly, someone replaced you and took to live with that person of yours, if they feigned to be a couple in public?”

Kara imagined that scenario for a few moments, and she felt truly upset inside.

“We are doing what’s best for everyone,” she finally reacted, “That way we give the DEO more time to keep investigating what’s happening to you.”

“Yeah, that story it’s what Lena and Alex have told me many times before,” Kara-40 declared without looking at her, “But what they say doesn’t matter to me: just thinking that the closeness you two share may create something real is still there, and it’s killing me inside.”

Lena and Kara observed her closely and, at the same time, their minds were racing with the memories of those moments they had shared together. 

“Because you’ve been faking it, right? There’s nothing between you two…”

The shadow of guilt showed on their faces, or that was at least the feeling Kara-40 experienced when she intently observed them. Then, her jealousy broke free.

“You’ve cheated on me? With her?” Kara-40 asked her girlfriend, looking at her, “Answer me, Lena!” she demanded.

The young Luthor’s silence was driving her up a wall, she needed answers and she would get them no matter the price.

“Oh, I bet you really missed me, in bed most of all, and she was just the perfect solution. Wasn’t her, Lena? Say it!”

Kara had her hands closed into a tight fist. Lena was, once again, about to start crying.

“Stop talking to her like that,” Kara intervened, unable to stand that terrible scene any longer.

“You sure are ready to jump to her defense. Were my assumptions correct, then?” Kara-40 maliciously asked, “Are you lovers or what’s happening here?! You can never trust a Luthor!”

Kara knew that Lena would give up in the end and tell what had transpired between them, and that would create a rift between the couple, something that she couldn’t allow to happen, so she chose the best option for them.

“Lena never cheated on you! It was me who kissed her!” she exclaimed, thus causing them to look at her.

“Well! I see Supergirl from Earth-38 is not as honorable as they thought her to be…Listen to me. If I ever get out of here, I will kill you with my bare hands,” her voice sounded serene, but there was a dangerous edge to it.

Lena trembled before that murderous threat, she felt terribly guilty. Kara had started those kisses, but she had kissed her back until her senses came back to her. It wasn’t fair for her to carry all that guilt on her shoulders alone, alongside the infinite hatred from her enraged girlfriend. They exchanged a look. Lena showed an intense worry. That complicity didn’t go unnoticed by Kara-40.  
“What the hell happened between the two of you?!” she demanded, enraged, “Lena!”

“Leave her alone, I already told you what happened.”

“I swear to Rao I will kill you,” Kara-40 mumbled.

Lena had never seen her girlfriend with a look so full of hatred in her eyes before. She really feared for Kara-38’s life, she feared that she would end up paying for her own mistakes. She couldn’t allow that, and she didn’t want to tell any lies: she would accept the consequences for her actions.

“I kissed her back…” she muttered.

“Lena, no!” Kara immediately exclaimed.

“It doesn’t matter anymore, Kara. It’s the truth,” Kara-40 looked at her, frowning, “I kissed her back because, for a moment, I felt like it was you who kissed me…But I soon realized it wasn’t so, so I stopped. Nothing else happened.”

Kara remained silent. She felt she was in the middle of a couple’s fight, and she had no idea how she should intervene. She didn’t even know if she should intervene at all, she didn’t want to make things worse.

“And you really think that I’ll forgive you because you confessed all that bullshit to me?” Kara-40 berated Lena, “Do you honestly think I’m gonna swallow that excuse of you being unable to tell between this bitch and I? That you were unable to tell she wasn’t the woman you’ve been sleeping with for a year? What the fuck!” she hit the glass with her fists.

“Kara, please…” Lena tried to explain herself, “Look at her: she is exactly like you were before all of this hell started…Her physical appearance, the way she acts…Everything! Do you have any idea of what it was for me to have her so close these weeks past and knowing she wasn’t you?” she exclaimed, “I am not perfect, it was a moment of weakness, I lost touch with reality…Because it was you I missed so, dammit!”

Kara breathed with some relief. Lena’s arguments were solid. Kara-40 had to understand. It had been a good idea to keep herself at bay for a few minutes…Or so she thought. Kara-40 had relaxed her stance, letting her arms fall alongside her body.

“Of course you are not perfect, Lena…” Kara-40 assured, "You are weak…And an ungrateful traitor.”

Kara frowned. Why was her alter-ego reacting so? Lena’s words were sensible, sincere, even, anyone could see it. Lena moved her head negatively, unable to recognize her girlfriend in that woman who spoke to her with arrogance and spite.

 

“Wanna know something, Lena Luthor? Everyone warned me about you when we started our relationship. Nobody trusted your intentions, and I see they were right now.”

“Where are you, Kara?” Lena whispered between the tears.

“I’m right here. Just realized what kind of woman I had for a girlfriend. Better sooner than later, I guess.”

“Kara, please…” Lena babbled while she cried, walking to the glass and searching, in vain, a stronger connection with her girlfriend.

Kara looked at them without knowing what to do, and her duplicate went on with her merciless spiel. Since she hadn’t gotten what she wanted from Lena, she would make her pay.

“Do you honestly believe that National City accepted you just for what you are? That happened just because I publicly supported you,” Kara-40 claimed, “Without Supergirl on your side, you’d be still Lex Luthor’s sister: a pariah, a reject…”

Lena felt her knees buckle, unable to keep the weight of her body. She had to completely lean on the glass. The person she loved the most was hurling at her the things that hurt the most to her, and she was unable to stand it anymore. Kara noticed, and she couldn’t remain in the background any longer.

“Stop this right now!” she exclaimed, riled up.

“Why should I? What I’m saying it’s the truth. Lena knows. Don’t you?” Kara-40 was beginning to enjoy that encounter now she had regained its control and had both women at her mercy, “I gave you friends, a family…You were alone until I came into your life…The truth is, without me you are nothing, Lena Luthor.”

“The only think I did was to love you…” Lena sobbed while she slid down the glass until she remained hunched over on the floor, crying disconsolately.

“How can you say such things?! You’re a monster!” Kara accused her duplicate. She then kneeled besides the young Luthor to help her get on her feet, “Lena…”

Kara had lost the ability to see the situation in perspective. She didn’t care anymore whether Kara-40 was acting so due to an illness, or the effect of some unknown agent. She was only conscious of the pain Lena was experiencing, and how much she wanted to keep her from that nightmare. Lena kept crying while she placed a hand on the glass and repeated her girlfriend’s name in almost inaudible whispers except for the Kryptonian, who felt her heart breaking seeing her in that state.

“C’mon, Lena. Let’s get out of here,” she told her softly, drying some tears from her cheek.

“And who the hell you think you are to touch her that way?!” Kara-40 shouted.

“Someone who doesn’t like watching Lena suffer,” the Kryptonian defiantly retorted.

“Lena is mine!” Kar-40 bellowed, “Lena, tell her!”

“Let’s go.”

Kara helped her walk. Lena seemed to be lost in a state of absolute defeat. When she didn’t elicit any reaction from her duplicate, Kara-40 spoke to her girlfriend.

“Already leaving, Lena? The visit is already over?!” she yelled, “You will be back! You always come back! Always!” she added, and she guffawed, “You need me, you are nothing without me!”

Lena closed her eyes tightly, and Kara embraced her shoulder, also holding her by her waist. When the elevator door opened, Alex and Mon-El were already inside.

“Lena, what happened?” Alex exclaimed when she saw her in that pitiable state.

“Your sister…She told her terrible things,” Kara explained.

“And what were you doing down here? I told you Kara didn’t want to see you,” the agent reprimanded her.

“I just…”

“Dammit, you two ignored my warnings!” Alex lamented.

“I’m sorry, Alex, I thought I could help things a little without your help,” Kara lowered her eyes, “I was wrong.”

Alex exhaled audibly. She wasn’t really surprised. It was typical of them to ignore whatever piece of advice she may give. It was just Lena and Kara’s way, no matter their world of origin, and she loved them above everything. She approached them and gave them both a hug.

“I’m sorry, Alex…” Lena muttered, still absent and tearful.

“Hush now, silly…I would’ve done the same if I were in your place. We all are a bunch of reckless idiots here,” the agent replied, and then she released them, “Now go home, the two of you. Mon-El and I are going to check on my sister. We’ll talk later.”

Kara nodded and led Lena inside the elevator by the arm. 

“Agent Danvers and the Daxamite…” Kara-40 drawled, “I liked my last visitors better.”

“What did you say to Lena?” Alex demanded, “I had never seen her so broken ever before.”

“Just the truth, big sis. Just the plain ol’ truth,” Kara-40 answered, “But you already know that truth hurts,” she added with a perverse smile.

“How can you be so cruel even to the woman you claimed to love?”

“How could she betray me?” the Kryptonian retorted.

“Betray you?” Alex exclaimed, disgruntled, “She does her utmost to help you.”

“I bet she does: by working closely with Supergirl from Earth-38.”

“What are you implying?” the tone of that comment annoyed Alex.

“Just ask them yourself, if you think them so virtuous…” Kara-40 stood up from the bench and her expression hardened, “Not even just one of you creatures, weak and treacherous humans, is worth it.”

Alex and Mon-El exchanged bewildered looks.  
XXXXXX

 

Lena was sitting on a chair inside a meeting room at the DEO; Maggie had led her there. The young Luthor was trying to regain her breath as she sipped water from a plastic cup that Kara had brought her. The Kryptonian, a few feet away, observed her. 

“I’m really sorry, Lena, I shouldn’t have been there. I should’ve talked to Alex…I just made things worse, it’s my fault that she ended up knowing what…What happened between us,” she added, embarrassed.

“It doesn’t matter now, Kara,” Lena assured her while looking at the floor, “I would have told her anyway; I don’t want to keep anything from her.”

“Is she always like that? When you visit her, I mean,” Kara asked in a soft voice. Lena smiled sadly.

“More or less. However, seeing you with me today made her worse,” she admitted.

“Why do you keep coming here if you know she’s going to treat you like that?” Kara asked.

“I don’t want her to think that she doesn’t matter to me anymore,” Lena explained, “I don’t want her to feel like she’s been left behind…It’s her biggest fear, you know?”

“I understand perfectly. It’s my biggest fear as well,” Kara confessed while she curved her lips slightly, “I admire you, Lena. Even though she doesn’t seem to appreciate your visits much, you don’t abandon her.”

“You would do the same for someone that mattered to you. I know that,” they exchanged smiles.

“I would.”

Kara averted her blue eyes from her and entertained herself looking at the room for a while. Lena was thankful for her concession; she took a deep breath and took another sip from the cup. There was silence for a few minutes until the young Luthor, now more relaxed, finally broke it, making Kara turn to face her.

“She was so gentle before, so sweet…So much like you,” Lena smiled at her, then averted her eyes and looked at nowhere in particular, “The day Alex and her team finally caught her at my apartment, Kara had left Maggie badly wounded and she was about to rape me…If the DEO hadn’t made it on time, we both would be dead by now.”

“Oh Rao…” Kara was horrified by what she had just heard.

 

FLASHBACK  
Kara insisted on having sex with her without the bracelets. The young Luthor had avoided that on already three occasions, but there wouldn’t be a fourth: the way her girlfriend was looking at her left that perfectly clear. It was like if she had suddenly lost her empathy, as if she didn’t care about the suffering of others, as if she wasn’t her girlfriend anymore.

“Please, Kara, stop…”

“Why stop now?” Kara insisted while a sadistic smile played on her lips, “I have every right to experience it without repressing myself, just like you do.”

The Kryptonian had her trapped between the wall and her own body. Under any other circumstance, that would have seemed like an arousing situation to her. On that day, it was a terrifying nightmare that she couldn’t escape from.

“I want to know how it feels…” Kara said as she carelessly pawed her girlfriend’s thigh. Lena complained in pain.

“Stop, you’re hurting me.”

Her hands went to the Kryptonian’s in an effort to push it aside, but that only infuriated her.

“You used to love it when I touched you,” she growled while she took her wrists and held them tightly over her head to the wall.

“Kara, please…” Lena’s green eyes were beginning to get watery, “Don’t do this to me…”

A shudder of panic passed through her body when she felt Kara’s hand on her thigh once more, slowly ascending towards her sex. Then, a gunshot was heard from the hall.

“Lena! Are you all right?” Maggie yelled.

“Welcome, detective Sawyer!” Kara greeted her from the main bedroom. Immediately, Maggie was before the door.

“Did my sister send you as the advance party?” the Kryptonian mocked her.

“Let Lena go,” she ordered, aiming at her with her gun the moment she had her within sight.

 

Kara remarked that what she was holding wasn’t an ordinary gun: the bullets contained on its magazine where made of kryptonite. Luckily for her, they wouldn’t have any effect on her body as long as she wasn’t hit. Something that she wasn’t about to let happen.

“So full of yourself, aren’t you, Sawyer?” Kara asked, freeing Lena from her grip, “You just interrupted a couple that was enjoying a bit of intimacy.”

 

“Lena, come with me,” the detective invited, “She won’t stop you: she knows my gun can kill her.”

The young Luthor moved with difficulty; her body was still stiff with fear. However, before she could get behind Maggie, Kara disappeared from her sight. In scarcely two seconds, Maggie found herself, her back on the floor and disarmed, while Kara levitated over her sporting a malignant smile.

“You should have waited for my sister.”

Thus said, she suddenly descended over the detective’s leg, breaking it in several points and causing pain so tremendous that made her howl agonizingly.

“Maggie!” Lena cried when she saw her writhing on the floor in pain.

“Don’t you worry: the pain will disappear in just a moment. Because I’m going to kill her,” Kara assured while lifting her arm.

“No, please, don’t! Don’t do it!” Lena begged her.

“Why not?” Kara asked, “She’s just a nuisance,” she lifted her arm again.

“I beg you, please don’t kill her...! I’ll do everything you want, but please don’t kill her!” Lena yelled.

The Kryptonian looked at her with satisfaction.

“Now, I think that is much more amusing than killing this insignificant human.”

She walked to Lena, took her by her left wrist and pulled without consideration for her, twisting it. Lena gritted her teeth to keep herself from vocalizing her pain, for fear of making her girlfriend focus her attention on Maggie once more.

TO BE CONTINUED


End file.
